A Peculiar Meeting
by houseofanubislover10897
Summary: What if Jacob had believed his grandfather's stories? And already knew he was peculiar. What if he had other peculiarities and ran off to find miss Peregrine's loop by himself? How will the children react to their new housemate? How will Emma react towards her new friend?
1. Prologue

He packs all of his valuable belongings in his backpack, the pictures and map his grandfather had shown him as a child,the letter and the book written by Emerson,his clothes,his wallet,a phone charger,family photos, and just to be safe he packs his grandfather's favorite pistol and a bunch of bullets. He's grateful his grandfather had found a peculiar who was able to put a charm on this bag, so it would never be full. He sneaks into the kitchen, careful to not wake up his parents. And quietly packs himself enough food to last him a while. He puts on the backpack and sneaks to the front door and quietly exits the house and runs down the street. He remembers holding his grandfather as he was dying. And how he'd told him to go to his old loop. His grandfather had explained to him that he was peculiar when he was little, and had told him of the home full of children like himself in Cairnholm,watched by a wise bird,a Peregrine falcon to be exact. His grandfather had lived with the bird and her peculiar children when he was a boy. And had told him that one day so would he. He knew that the things he could do were not ordinary, and that he should be around others like himself. His grandfather had passed away months ago, and he remembers the horror he'd felt when he'd discovered that a hollowgast that had done this to him. His grandfather had explained to him years ago what they look like, but to see one in real life was even more terrifying. His parents were afraid he was going crazy so they'd had the doctor prescribe him multiple medications and had eeven made him see a therapist, Dr. Golan. He'd decided that he'd had enough with hiding. That he's going to Cairnholm and he's going to find miss Peregrine's loop. Once he's far away from any houses, he transforms into a raven and begins to soar high in the sky.

 _'Goodbye ordinary life, hello adventure'_ he thinks to himself as he continues to fly away from everything he's ever known.

After a few hours of flying he shifts into human form and checks his map. He munches on one of the granola bars he'd packed, then puts everything in his backpack. He puts it on and then shifts into a Peregrine falcon. He's only a few hours away from Cairnholm and has seen a few of them flying around. He then perches on top of a boat that is traveling to his destination. After about an hour the boat is within sight of the island and he decides to fly the rest of the way. He stretches his wings and launches off into the sky and flies towards the island in the distance. After a few minutes he sees another Peregrine and let's out a small squawk to greet it. It glances at him and squawks back before flying off. He watches it go and enjoys the feeling of the breeze against his feathers. It had been so long since his last flight. He eventually reaches the island and after a while of flying around the forest he finds the old beat up house. He flies through one of the many broken windows and shifts back into human form. He walks around the house, hoping that soon he'll be part of its loop. He remembers the stories his grandfather's told him about the children. Enoch is a boy that can give life to things he creates, even the dead. Bronwyn is a very strong little girl. Hugh, the boy with bees living inside him. Millard the invisible boy. Fiona, the girl who can control plants, Olive the girl that can control fire. Horace the boy who has prophetic dreams, and a keen sense of fashion according to his grandfather. The twins who wear masked ballerina outfits, to avoid turning their friends into stone. Claire, a little girl with a back mouth. And last but not least Emma, the girl lighter than air. His grandfather had never actually confirmed this, but he has a strong feeling that they'd been a couple for a while. He hopes that they'll welcome him into their family. He knows his arrival will be quite a shock to all of them. It's then that he makes a plan, he'll wait for a few days before going off to find them. He'll enter the loop in the morning, but he'll stay around the town and the beach for a few days so he won't necessarily startle them. Once he's finished thinking this over he glances out the window and sees it's getting dark. He shifts into the form of a black Siberian husky and goes up to the attic. He curls up under the bed and soon falls fast asleep. Little did he know that he'd meet one of the members of his new family very soon.


	2. The Adventure Begin's

Jake's POV

I open my eyes and lift my head up off of the ground. Memories of yesterday are flashing through my head as I take in my surroundings. I carefully crawl out from under the old bed and stretch before shifting back into human form. I walk through the house, taking all the details I'd missed last night. I notice that most of the house is in decent shape, aside from the dust, mold, and cobwebs of course. I exit the house and begin to walk towards the beach, hoping to clear my head of the guilt of how I'd left yesterday. I'll miss my parents but I'm glad to finally have the chance to do something I've wanted for so long, to meet my grandfather's peculiar family. After walking around the beach for a little while I begin my search for the cairn, the entrance to miss Peregrine's loop. It didn't take long, only a few minutes actually. I look around to make sure no one is watching me, before carefully slipping inside of the cavern. I carefully watch my step for any loose driftwood or rocks so I don't trip. I feel a shift in the atmosphere around me and know that I've just entered the loop. I quickly go deeper into the cavern and find the exit. I rush outside and accidentally bump into someone and knock them over. I look down and realize it's a girl my age with long blonde hair, and wearing a long light blue dress. Bit what really makes her stand out was the big metal shoes she's wearing.

 _'Oh my bird it's Emma'_ I think to myself shocked. I quickly snap out of it and go to help her up.

"I'm so sorry, are you alright?" I ask her while taking her hand and helping her up.

"Yeah I'm alright. I'm sorry I wasn't watching where I wa-" she stops mid-sentence when she looks at me for the first time.

"Abe?" she asks disbelievingly. I frown internally, feeling bad that she thinks I'm her dead ex boyfriend. She moves to hug me, but I take a few steps back. She looks at me confused and hurt, and when I open my mouth to explain, I hear a woman and several children beginning to approach. I'm not ready to meet them yet, I need to get out of here before they all see me.

"I'm sorry, I have to go" I tell Emma regretfully before I start to run away, in the opposite direction of where the others are beginning to approach.

"Abe wait! Please don't go" she calls out desperately. I hear her quickened footsteps trying to catch up to me. I speed up and when I round a corner I quickly change into a Peregrine falcon and perch on a large piece of driftwood. I watch as she stops running about 100 feet away from where I am. I see a woman with black hair and a large group of children rush up to her, asking her what's wrong. I immediately recognize them as miss Peregrine and the rest of the children, they look exactly the same as they do in my grandfather's old pictures of them. Emma is now in tears and is hugging a redheaded girl that also looks our age. I realize that this girl is Olive, she's wearing her long black gloves and is now trying to console a now sobbing Emma.

"Emma what's wrong?" miss Peregrine asks the crying girl, looking very concerned.

"Abe is here" she sobs out, and I feel my heart break. I watch as miss Peregrine and the other children gasp in shock, and the little ones begin to ask her where he is. I let out a sad coo as I see Emma begin to cry harder. I want to go over there, I want to make her feel better. But I know it isn't me that she wants, and that I'd only make it worse by telling her I'm not who she thinks.

"W-when I said his name and went to hug him he backed away. And when he noticed that all of you were approaching he said he was sorry and that he had to go, and then he started to run off. I tried to follow him and called out to him, begging him not to go but he was to fast" she sobs out. I see the older children share concerned looks to each other.

"Don't worry Emma we'll find him" Fiona assures her. The twins begin to jump up and down in excitement, letting out excited chittering sounds. I let out a happy squawk to get their attention and it works. They all stop talking and look at me in shock, as if they'd never seen a Peregrine before. I stretch my wings before flying a little closer to them, and landing on another piece of driftwood a safe distance from them.

"Is this a friend of yours miss Peregrine?" Olive asks. Miss Peregrine looks at me and I see recognition flash in her eyes.

"No but I do believe that this is the same falcon that was flying near me yesterday" she says. I let out a little chirp, confirming her theory. They all watch in shock as I begin to stretch my wings and take off into the sky. I have to force myself to not turn around and fly back when I hear Emma whimper 'I miss him'. I continue to fly away from my grandfather's family and soar around the island. I love to fly, I love the feeling of the wind against me, and the amazing views I get to see. After a few hours of just aimlessly flying around the island I decide to fly to the house. After a few minutes I land on one of the lower branches of the tree next to the house. I watch as the children play in the yard and miss Peregrine watching them close by.

"Well hello there" I hear a girl say below me. I look down and see Olive looking up at me curiously.

"Glad to see that you've come back" she says excitedly. I chirp down at her and she smiles.

"Will you come down? I know the others would be happy to see that you've returned" she asks me. I think about it for a few seconds before thinking that there's no harm in getting a closer look. I fly down to her and begin to follow her as she begins to rejoin the others.

"Our new friend has returned" Olive says as she walks over to everyone. I look at them all and see them watching me curiously. I look at Emma and see that her cheeks are red and puffy, and automatically realize she'd been crying again. I know what I have to do, but I'm afraid of the reactions I'll get.

' _Wish me luck grandpa'_ I think to myself before flying about two hundred feet away from them. Miss Peregrine and the children all look at me curiously as I hover a few feet above the ground. I take a deep breath and change back into a human. Their eyes widen in shock and for a few moments no one says anything. Just when I begin to feel like shifting and flying off, all hell breaks loose.

 **Author's Note: Guys unfortunately this is the last time I'll be updating until Sunday night. I really hope you guys are beginning to like this story and I'll update a couple times Sunday night.**


	3. Breaking The News

Jake's POV

The children all cry out in shock and begin to rush over to me. I begin to feel very nervous and watch as they all stop once they're about fifteen feet away from me. Miss Peregrine approaches us and stops behind the children. They're all looking at me excited and nervous at the same time.

"Abe?" miss Peregrine says confusedly. She takes a few steps towards me and I take a step back. She looks at me hurt, not understanding why I would back away from her like I was afraid.

 _'It's time, they need to know'_ I think to myself. I feel a small boost of confidence, which lowers my feeling of nervousness.

"It's nice to meet you miss Peregrine, I've heard so much about you and your family" I say calmly while holding my hand out, smiling at her nervously. Realization flashes into her eyes, now she knows I'm not my grandfather.

"The pleasure is all mine mr-" she says ask she shakes my hand.

"Portman. Jacob Portman" I say as I release her hand.

"You're Jake? well look at you, the last time Abe sent us a picture of you, you were just a tiny tot" she says while smiling at me. I smile at her before looking at the children. I feel a rush of happiness and wonder as I take them all in.

"It's great to be here. I've been wanting to meet all of you since I was young" I tell them all. Olive smiles at me and waves shyly, before Enoch sends her a glare from where he is beside her. She lowers her head and looks down in embarrassment. She looks back up and I smile and wave back at her.

"There's no need to scold her Enoch, Olive's just being friendly" I call out to the moody boy. The children's eyes widen after they hear me call two of them by name.

"Children allow me to introduce our new friend. This is Jake, Abe's grandson" she says to them.

"I would like to apologize for our awkward meeting this morning Emma" I tell the girl that is looking at me in shock.

"You look just like him" she says in shock. I smile at her for a few seconds before a sudden beeping sound emits from my backpack. The children all jump back in shock and I internally curse.

"It's ok it's just my phone" I explain to them calmly as I take off my backpack.

 _'Why did I have to set up that damn alarm?'_ I growl to myself as I kneel to the ground and unzip one section of my backpack. I reach in and take out my phone. I quickly turn off the alarm and put it in my jacket pocket before zipping up my backpack. I had learned the hard way that it's best to keep my phone in my backpack when I plan to fly. I grab my bag and get up off the ground and slide one of the straps over my shoulder.

"Your phone?" Emma asks curiously.

"Yeah. You know, a telephone. You can call people,send written messages. Oh you're all going to love this" I say as I begin to take out my phone.

"Miss Peregrine you should go stand with them" I tell her. She looks at me confusedly before walking over to the children. She stands behind Emma and I get out the camera on my phone. I hold it out in front of me,ready to snap the picture.

"Smile" I say, grinning at them. They all smile at me and I snap the picture. I walk over to them and turn my phone over so they can all see the picture. Emma looks at it amazed and I smile at her. The other children have similar expressions, Save Millard and Enoch of course. I'm sure if Millard wasn't invisible I'd see a amazed look on his face. Enoch on the other hand is hard to impress, at least that's what grandpa used to say.

"So Jake who did you come with? Is your grandfather with you?" miss peregrine asks me. I put away my phone and look at her, not knowing how yo break the news to her.

"No actually, I came by myself" I explain to her. I see disappoint flash in their eyes as I say this.

"Oh that's a shame, I hope he'll write us soon" miss Peregrine says hopefully. I feel my heart drop as I realize that I'm about to break their hearts.

"Actually I need to tell you all something. Could we take this conversation inside" I ask her. She nods and I see confusion on all of their faces as miss Peregrine leads us inside. We go into the living room and I have them all sit down. I put my bag down and begin to pace back and forth in the large doorway, not knowing how to explain to them the heartbreaking news.

 _'Damn it Jake you spent 20 hours flying here, all you could think about was how to break the news. Say something you idiot'_ I scold myself.

"Jake is something wrong? Has something happened?" miss Peregrine asks from her spot on a chair that's in between the two couches.

"Is Abe alright? is he sick?" Horace asks me.

"Is that why he didn't come with you?" Emma asks me concerned. I frown and look down, unable to bear looking at their concerned faces.

"Actually that's what I need to talk to all of you about" I say nervously, looking back up at them.

"Jake is your grandfather alright? Has something happened?" miss Peregrine asks me extremely worried now. I close my eyes and look away from them, I don't want to see the worry and concern on their faces.

"I hate to tell you this...but he died...nine months ago" I say regretfully, not looking at them. I hear all of them cry out in shock. I look up at all of them and see a pained expression on all of their faces, but Emma's was definitely the most heart breaking. She looked at me with tears pricking her eyes, and when she saw I was looking at her she began to wipe them away furiously.

"It was my fault" I choked out. I look away and press my fist against my mouth to keep from sobbing.

"Jake you can't thi-" Olive starts to say before I cut her off.

"It was a hollow that killed him" I say rushed. Everyone gasps and look at me, urging me to continue.

"It was just another normal day. I was at work stacking a tower of products at my uncles store. When I got out of work I'd called him, telling him I'd be there soon. And he started saying to not to, and that the monsters had finally found him and were coming for him He told me to stay away. I'd wanted to fly there, but I didn't want to scare my coworkers and for them to talk to my uncles. So I'd asked my coworker Shelly to give me a ride. And when we got there Shelly told me to call her if I needed her, and waited in the car as I went into the house. I'd discovered that the house was trashed and my grandpa was no where to be found" I stopped talking for a moment to catch my breath. Emma looked like she was about to say something, but I continued before she got the chance to say a word.

" I called for Shelly telling her it looked like someone had broken in, she said she would get her gun from her car. Not wanting to wait for her I started investigating the backyard after seeing that the back screen door had a giant rip in it. I saw that the fence was wrecked and picked up a flashlight that had blood on it. I walked through the gaping hole in the fence, and I found him laying there on the forest floor. I'd ran to him and when I tried to help him I saw that his eyes were missing" I cut myself off with a sob. They're all looking at me with pain in their eyes and I know I have to keep going.

"I thought he was dead. And when I was about to call for help he gasped and told me to find the loop September 3rd,1940" they all look at me in shock as they realize their old friend is the reason I'm here.

"He'd make me promise that I would come here, that it was safer for me to be here than at home. He died in my arms seconds later. Shelly had found us and she was holding her gun. That's when I'd noticed what was towering behind her" by now they are all leaning forward with tears in their eyes, wanting me to continue.

"It was pure white, it looked like a modern slender man only it had a mouth full of sharp reel and black tentacles coming from its mouth. It had points on the end of it's arms instead of hands, and no eyes. As a reflex I'd shouted ' _Shelly behind you'_ and she turned around and started shooting her gun. The hollow disappeared, it was the first time I'd ever seen one" I stop talking. They all look at me with pain in their eyes and the little ones start to sob and the twins let out whimpers.

"It's my fault he's gone. I should have just flown there and I could've been there in time" I beat myself up. Miss Peregrine gets up and begins walking towards me. I close my eyes and look down, waiting for her to Starr yelling at me. I'm startled when I feel her wrap her arms around me and hug me.

"It wasn't your fault" she whispers against my shoulder. She lets go of me after a minute and looks me right in the eyes.

"Jake there is nothing you could have done, and if you had been there you would have probably been killed too" she says, looking at me with sadness in her eyes. I see that she's about ready to burst into tears and get a box of tissues out of my backpack. I told it out to her and she gratefully takes one. I grab one for myself and hold it out to the others. They all take one and wipe their eyes and noses. I go back to the doorway and look at all of them.

"He loved all of you till the very end" I tell them. They all have a sad smile on their faces after I say this.

"I'm sorry I came here like I did, it wasn't my intention for us to meet this way" I apologized.

"That's alright Jake. Will you join us for the day? I'm sure the children love to spend the day with you" miss Peregrine asks me.

"Oh yes please spend the day with us Jake" Bronwyn says eagerly. The other children besides Enoch all begin for me to stay too.

"Sure I'd love to. But I'll have to leave tonight" I explain to them. They all let out whoops of joy and I smile at them. It'll be fun to get to know the people I've grown up hearing about all my life.


	4. Hollow Attack

Jake's POV

After playing with the children for a few hours I go sit on a rock not far from the children and watch them as they run around the yard, playing games and having fun. I think about how peaceful it is, and can't help but wonder if this is how my grandfather had felt every day when he lived here. I just take off my brown leather jacket, but other than that I'm still wearing the clothes I've been traveling in since left home.

 _'I wonder what mom and dad are doing right now?'_ I think to myself sadly. It's been a few days since I had left home to come here, and I miss my family. I know it's better this way, that they're safer without me there, but there's always going to be that one part of me that will always miss them. I'm broken out of my thoughts when I hear someone walking over to me, I look up and see that it's Emma.

"Hi" she says nervously.

"Hi" I say to her. An awkward silence passes between us for a few minutes, I still feel awful for the misunderstanding this morning. I start to open my mouth to say something, but she beats me to it.

"I'm sorry about earlier" she says sadly. My eyes widen, and I look at her in shock.

"No don't be sorry, it was my fault not yours" I quickly tell her. She ignores what I'm saying to her and continues where she left off.

"It's just that you look so much like him" her voice breaks at the last word. I frown and quickly stand up, I take a few steps towards her and she looks up at me with tears in her eyes. I reach up and wipe the tears away, she looks down trying to avoid my gaze.

"Hey it's alright, I know you miss him. I miss him too and I'm so sorry that I hurt you, that was the last thing I wanted to do this morning" I say gently and apologetically. She sniffles and I quickly wrap my arm around her shoulders and hug her to me, she sobs and wraps her arms around my waist and begins to cry into my shirt. As soon as she touched me I felt a sudden spark pass between us, I chose to ignore it for now, and focus on the beautiful crying girl in my arms. I move my arm so it's around her waist and rub her back with my other hand. I can't help but feel like wanting to hold her closer, but I quickly snap out of it when a thought rushes into my head.

' _Snap out of it! It's not you who she really wants, she loved your grandfather'_ a voice in the back of my brain shouts. A rush of sadness rushes through me as I accept the truth, it's clear that she still loves him and that I need to back off. Suddenly she looks up at me, and slowly begins to lean in. I am frozen not knowing what to do, but before her lips are able to touch mine I turn away.

"We should go back to the others" I tell her as I let her go and back away a little. There's sadness flooding in her eyes, and for a moment I regret what I just did.

 _'It's better this way, neither of us deserve to get our hearts broken'_ the voice from earlier says sadly. I know that this is the right thing to do, but it feels so wrong.

"Yeah" she says sadly before turning away from me and beginning to walk back to the house. I sadly watch her as she goes for a few seconds, before grabbing my backpack from the rock I had been sitting on. I lean against the rock as I pull a picture from my bag. I look down at the picture, looking at my grandfather's smiling face as he wraps his arm around my shoulder. I smile sadly down at it and hope that he'll forgive me for what I'm about to do.

"I'm sorry grandpa, I don't think I can do this. Not yet at least" I whisper as I put the picture back in my bag. I put my jacket in my bag too and strap it over my shoulders. I slowly begin to talk over to miss Peregrine and notice her and the children are all looking at me curiously.

"Thank you for all of your hospitality, but I need to leave now" I tell her.

"You're welcome Jake, when you come back w-" she starts to say but I cut her off.

"I'm afraid I won't be coming back" I say softly. The children all gasp and I see them all looking at me sadly, I notice that Enoch and Olive are the only ones not out here.

"Jake please don't go" Bronwyn says sadly.

"Stay with us" Fiona pleads. The other children let out similar pleads, and Emma just looks at me sadly. I refocus on miss Peregrine and see hurt in her eyes.

"It was a mistake for me to come here, and I'm sorry for intruding in your lives. I promise that you'll never see me again" I say before turning away from them and beginning to walk away. I hear all of them let out protests and hear multiple footsteps behind me. I quickly shift into a raven and begin to fly away.

"Jake don't go!" I hear Emma yell desperately. I hear the other children and miss Peregrine saying things very similar. I continue to fly away from them, my grandfather's family and the girl that is capturing my heart. I let out a sad squawk and fly to the cairn. I quickly fly into it and when I'm halfway through I change back into human form. For a few minutes I just stay there, leaning against the wall with my brain and my heart fighting each other.

 _'Go back there you idiot! She likes you!'_ my heart tells me.

 _'She loves your grandfather. They're all better off without you being there, you'll put them in danger'_ my brain argues. I growl in frustration and shake my head, now is not the time to think like this. I continue to walk out of the loop and feel the shift in the atmosphere. I continue to walk out into the cold muggy air that's surrounding the cairn. I begin to walk through the muddy mess on the ground towards the abandoned house. I'll stay there for the night while I plan my next move. When I'm about halfway across it's over grown lawn I faintly hear someone calling out my name. I turn my head back slightly and see Emma rushing to catch up to me. I stop walking and wait for her, wondering what she has to say to me. She runs up to me and looks up at me sadly.

"Jake please don't go" she pleads sadly. A tear runs down her cheek and I feel my heart crack slightly.

"Emma I don't belong there" I say firmly.

"Yes you do. You're one of us Jake" she says desperately.

"Emma I may be peculiar, but I'm from the future. Our time periods don't belong together, me staying there would never work out" I try to explain to her gently. She frowns and lightly grips my left wrist.

"Please stay with us Jake, please just give us a chance" she pleads. I open my mouth to say something but a loud roar interrupts ms. Suddenly trees begin to fall and snap in the woods and another roar emits from the trees behind us.

"Hollow" I shout worriedly. I quickly grab Emma and rush her inside of the house. I stop in front of a mirror in the living room and quickly put her down.

"Do you trust me?" I ask her quickly. We hear another roar and she quickly nods yes.

"It's going to be ok. Take this and I'll meet you on the other side once I take care of the hollow" I quickly tell her as I take my backpack off and grab my grandfather's pistol and a box of bullets. Emma opens her mouth to probably ask me what I mean, but before she can say anything I push my backpack into her arms and shove her into the mirror quickly. The glass ripples like water as she slides through to the other side and disappears. I hear a louder roar and hear the beast begin to exit the woods. I quickly load the pistol and put the rest if the bullets into my pocket. It's time to kill one of the bastards that killed my grandfather. I race out of the house and towards the edge of the woods. I begin to shoot at the monster as it exits its hiding place. I hit it on the shoulder and it shrieks in pain. One of it's long black tentacles swipes at me and knocks me on to my side. I shoot at it again and quickly stand back up. One of the sharp points on the bottom of it's arm scratches my left arm and I wince. Two of it's tentacles wrap around my waist and pick me up. Another two of its tentacles begin to reach towards my eyes and I quickly shoot it in both eye sockets. It shrieks and falls forward with me still in its grasp. Its dead body lands on top of me and I carefully slide out of the mess of slimy tentacles. I carefully back away from the corpse and just for good measure I shoot it in the head a few times before putting the gun in my pocket. I quickly stumble across the yard and into the house. I walk over to the mirror in the living room and carefully begin to walk through it. I make it to the other side and see Emma and the others, including Enoch staring at me shocked and concerned.

"Whatever you do, Do not let a hollows dead body land on top of you" I chuckle exhaustedly before leaning against a wall to support myself. Emma sees that my arm is bleeding and gasps before rushing to me. She has my backpack clutched tightly to her chest and is looking at me extremely worried. I smile at her slightly, trying to ease her worries. She carefully removes one arm from my bag and gently touches my arm. I wince slightly and she starts to remove her hand.

"It's ok Emma it's just a scratch" I explain to her before focusing on Olive.

"Olive can you cauterize it" I ask her. Olive's eyes widen and she looks at me shocked.

"Jake no I c-" she starts to say while shaking her head.

"Olive please,I know you can do it. I trust you" I plead. She thinks for a few seconds before nodding. Emma helps me over to the couch by wrapping her arm around my waist and my arm around her shoulder. She helps me sit down and olive carefully rolls up the short sleeve of my shirt over my shoulder and takes off one of her gloves. She places her bare hand on my arm and I feel a horrible pain a few seconds later. I grunt in pain and grit my teeth to keep from making anymore noise. After about a minute she removes her hand and I begin to relax.

"I'll take care of the rest" Emma volunteers hopefully.

"In my bag there's a first aid kit with everything you'll need" I tell her. She smiles at me softly before opening my bag and taking out the kit. She puts my bag on the ground and begins to clean off the blood. She wraps bandages around the wound and I'm all set. I sit back on the couch admiring her handy work.

"Well looks like I can't fly for a few days" I say depressed. Emma looks at me sadly, probably thinking of our conversation from before the hollow had interrupted us.

"Jake please just stay for a few days, at least until your arm is healed. if you still want to leave afterwards we won't try to stop you" Emma pleads. All of the children except Enoch nod their heads quickly at this, looking at me hopefully. I look at miss Peregrine and see she has a hopeful expression on her face. I focus back on Emma and see her looking at me with her eyes filled with hope and something else I couldn't decide.

"Alright. But just for a few days" I agree. She smiles at me and I can't help but smile back. I still don't trust my growing feelings for her, but I'm not as afraid of falling as I used to be. And I'm beginning to fall for her, hard.


	5. The Boy With No Eyes

Emma's POV

"Do you trust me?" Jake asks me urgently. We jump when we hear another loud roar and he turns back to me with worry in his eyes. I quickly nod my head yes, I trust him very much.

" It's going to be ok. Take this and I'll meet you on the other side once I take care of the hollow" he says quickly as he takes off his backpack and takes out a gun and a box of bullets. I open my mouth to ask him what he means, but he suddenly puts his backpack in my arms and shoves me into the mirror. Suddenly I'm not in the wrecked house, and instead I'm back inside of our house in the loop.

"Emma? How'd did you do that?" Bronwyn asks me amazed.

"I-I didn't, Jake through the mirror to protect me from the hollow" I stutter as I take a few small steps towards them. I'm in shock, I can't believe he did that.

"THE HOLLOW!" everyone shouts.

"Oh my goodness! Emma where is Jake?" miss Peregrine asks Suddenly Jake leaps out of the mirror and we all look at him in shock. He has the gun in his pocket and has black gunk all over him.

"Whatever you do, do not let a hollow's dead body land on top of you" he chuckles exhaustedly. He leans against the wall and that's when I notice that his arm is bleeding. He casts a small smile at me when he notices that I'm looking at him. I carefully remove one arm from around his backpack and reach out to him and gently touch his arm. He winces slightly and I start to pull back my hand when he speaks to me.

"It's ok Emma it's just a scratch" he explains to me. He focuses on someone behind me and begins to speak.

" Olive can you cauterize it?" he asks. My eyes widen in shock and I turn to look at Olive. Her eyes are wide and she's looking at Jake in shock.

"Jake no I c-" she starts to say while shaking her head.

"Olive please,I know you can do it. I trust you" he pleads. I look at her hopefully.

' _Please help him'_ I pray. She thinks for a few seconds before nodding. I quickly wrap my arm around Jake's waist and lead him to the couch, he has his arm over my shoulder for support. I help him sit down and Olive walks over to us. She carefully rolls up his sleeve and takes off one of her gloves. She places her bare hand over the wound and a few seconds later Jake grunts in pain. He grits his teeth and no other sound comes out. After about a minute she removes her hand and Jake begins to relax.

"I'll take care of the rest" I volunteer hopefully. I hope he'll let me take care of him.

"In my bag there's a first aid kit with everything you'll need" he tells me gently. I give him a small smile before opening his bag and finding the kit. I put his bag on the ground and begin to clean off all of the blood. After I'm finished I begin to wrap bandaged around the wound. After I finish, he sits back and admires my handy work. "Well looks like I can't fly for a few days" he says depressed. I look at him sadly and remember what we talked about earlier. I can't believe he thinks he doesn't belong here, I know he's from the future but I know things will work out. I wish he would just give us a chance.

"Jake please just stay for a few days, at least until your arm is healed. if you still want to leave afterwards we won't try to stop you" I plead. And I really do mean it, if he doesn't want to stay after his arm is completely healed, I won't try to make him stay. I see all of the other children except Enoch nod their heads eagerly, agreeing with my terms. Jake focuses on the hopeful expressions that the children and miss Peregrine have on their faces. He focuses back on me and I hope that he'll agree, I really want the chance to get to know him. I don't just like him because he looks like Abe, there's something special about him that draws me in. I don't know what it is, but I really _really_ want to find out.

"Alright. But just for a few days" he agrees. I smile and he smiles back at me. I have a feeling we're going to become great friends during his time here.

"Jake how did you do the trick with the mirror?" Horace asks Jake. He takes a deep breath and looks down for a moment, he looks up after a moment and I see pain in his eyes.

"There's something all of you should know" he says quietly. We all watch him in concern and he sits up, and rubs his eyes with both hands before looking around at all of us.

"What ever it is Jake, we won't judge you" miss peregrine says.

"When I was born, my lungs were very _very_ weak. And there was a moment where my heart had stopped beating" he says quietly.

"After 6 minutes the doctors were able to bring me back but there was a price I had to pay" he chokes out.

"Jake" I say questioningly.

"Because I was dead for more than a couple minutes, a connection was made between the other side and myself" he continues.

"What does this have to do with what happened with the mirror?" Enoch asks rudely.

"It has everything to do with the bloody mirror" Jake snaps at him, an accent coming out at the end of his sentence.

"One day when I was about 6 years old, I was with my grandpa and we were looking in a mirror in the hallway combing our hair" he starts.

"And suddenly I saw another person standing next to us in the reflection, but we were the only two people in the room" he looks down, trying to find the right words.

"I looked at my grandpa and had asked him if he could see him too, and he didn't know what I was talking about. So I'd leaned forward and pressed my hand on the glass, and suddenly fell through" he explains.

"And I ended up in an austral plane" he gets cut off by Claire.

"What's an astral plane?" she asks curiously.

"Well sweetie we live in an physical plane, but when we die our spirits go to an astral plane or a spiritual plane" he starts. We're all leaning in closer to him, eager for him to continue.

"Which is sort of here and not here at the same time" we all look at him confused, not understanding what he means.

"Ok here let me try something" he says as he grabs his bag and takes out some sort of notebook and a marker. He takes out 2 pieces and draws a circle on one.

"This is us in the physical level" he says holding up the piece with the circle. He draws a circle on the other piece and holds it up.

"And this is me and Emma when we were passing through the spiritual level" he says as he lines up the two pages, the circles lining up together.

"Here and not here at the same time" Hugh says, beginning to understand.

"Exactly" he smiles.

"What is it like in there?" Olive asks curiously.

"Well the content of the spiritual level is parallel to the physical level. It looks exactly the same only it's more dark" he explains briefly.

"But why are we not in the spiritual level now Jake?" I ask him. I don't remember ever seeing the spiritual plane.

"Because when I pushed you through the mirror, I pushed you straight through it and back into the loop. There are many ways to enter and exit the spiritual level, and some can lead to loops, depending what your location is" he explains softly.

"When I was in there, I wasn't alone" he says. We all gasp when we remember him telling us about the boy he'd seen.

"The boy I'd seen was standing in front of me, watching me curiously. He'd looked about seventeen maybe eighteen years old" he started to describe.

"I knew he had no intentions to harm me, but there was a part of his appearance that scared me" his eyes glaze over, as if remembering something very important.

"What was so scary about his appearance?" Fiona asks him.

"He had no eyes" he tells us.

 **Author's Note: this chapter is based on one of my favorite scenes in poltergeist (2015 version) and I really hope you guys are enjoying this story so far :)**


	6. Opening Up

Jake's POV

They all gasp, and look at me horrified. I understand their fear completely, the first time I saw him I was as freaked out as they are right now. I remember how he helped me find my way out, and how ever since that day I've gone back into the astral plane and have become very close over the years. We're like brothers now, in a weird way. He's never told me his name though, every time I'd asked him when I was young, he'd always say ' _You'll_ _figure it out one day'_ '. And give me a knowing smile, as if he knew something that I didn't, something big. Apparently I was lost in my fond memories, because Millard clears his throat to get my attention.

"What are you smiling about?" he asks curiously. I snap out of my thoughts and focus on all of them, they all have the same curious looks on their faces, including Enoch which is very shocking.

"Oh just some old memories, nothing to worry about" I assure them. I'd rather keep those memories to myself, I never even told my grandfather about him. He's one ofway.e few friends I've ever had growing up, and I want him to remain my little secret. I remember how he told me he was peculiar too, when he was alive. He wouldn't tell me what his peculiarity was, no matter how much I'd begged him over the years. He still likes to tease me about it every now and again.

"Please tell us" Hugh begs. All of the younger children let out similar cries and I can't help but let out a small laugh, that's when I remember I'm still covered in the black gunk.

"That's a story for another time" I say amusedly. I turn to miss Peregrine, and see that she's looking at me as if she's trying to solve a puzzle.

"May I use the restroom? I'd like to get cleaned up" I ask while gesturing to the black goo covering me.

"Oh of course! There's a restroom under the staircase" she says quickly while pointing outside of the room. I smile at her and quickly put the gun,first aid kit,notebook,and marker back inside my bag and carry it out of the room and go inside the restroom. I quickly rinse off all the goo and change into a pair of dark blue jeans and a white T-shirt. I also put on fresh socks and sneakers. After I'm finished changing I put the soiled clothes in a plastic bag, and put the bag in my backpack. I'll wash them later. I replace the bandages on my arm and walk out of the room with my bag strapped over my shoulder. I walk back into the living room and see everyone talking to each other excitedly, Except Emma who is trying to wipe all of the black gunk off of the couch. I frown, feeling bad that she thinks she needs to clean up my mess. I quickly walk over and kneel down next to her.

"Here, let me do that" I say as I gently wake the damp cloth from her. She looks at me curiously and I smile at her. I wipe off all of the goo and dry off the couch using a different piece of cloth. I ignore the stinging sensation in my arm and take care of all the supplies. I sit back down on the couch after I've finished, and Emma sits at a safe distance away me. She looks over at me shyly, probably nervous to get any closer to me. I wish she wouldn't be so afraid to be near me, it wasn't her fault that I got hurt.

"Emma you know I don't blame you right? This wasn't your fault" I say gently while gesturing to my arm.

"Yes it is, you got hurt because you were protecting me" she says before looking down at her lap. I scoot closer to her and reach over and take one of her hands in mine. As soon as our hands touch I feel a spark between us. She looks up at me shyly and I smile at her and gently squeeze her hand.

"Please don't blame yourself" I plead. She nods slightly, and a small smile graces her lips. I smile back at her before letting go of her hand and sitting back in my original position.

"Oh children it's time for your chores!" miss Peregrine says. The children all get up quickly and race outside with miss Peregrine.

"Will you help me with something?" Emma asks me hopefully.

' _Of course, I'd help you with anything_ ' I think to myself. I'm really beginning to fall for her, hard. I'm drawn to her for some reason I don't know, but I really want to find out. I follow her out of the room and she grabs a big long rope on her way out the door. I follow her out into the backyard, and over to a large tree. She gives me the rope and I sling it over my shoulder, and watch her curiously as she looks down at her watch for a few seconds before holding out her hand. Suddenly a baby squirrel lands on her hand and I can't help looking at it in amazement.

"Will you tie that rope around my waist?" Emma asks me as she carefully moves her hands above her head.

"Yeah sure" I say as I take the rope off of my shoulder. I carefully wrap one end of the rope around her waist twice and tie a knot. She unstraps a few of the straps on her shoes until there's only one still keeping her from floating.

"Promise to hold on tight" she says gently. I tighten my grip on the rope, there's no way I'm going to screw up.

"I promise" I say firmly.

' _I swear I'll never let anything bad happen to you_ ' is what I really wanted to say.

"Ok" she says before unstrapping the last strap. She begins to float up into the sky and I watch in amazement as she reaches out and grabs part of the tree to keep herself from going higher, and places the baby squirrel back in its nest. I gently begin to pull her back to the ground and place my hands on top of her shoulders as soon as she's in reach and carefully push her the rest of the way onto the ground. She straps on her shoes and I carefully remove the rope from her waist. She smiles at me happily and I smile back as I place the rope back over my shoulder. Birds chirp as they soar high above us as we begin to walk back to the house, and I can't help but watch longingly as they fly off into the distance. Out of the corner of my eye I see Emma watching me, and I see the sadness pooling in her eyes. I focus back on the house and an idea pops into my head. I reach out with my right hand and take her hand in mine. She looks at me shyly and I swing our hands back and forth between us as we continue to walk. A comfortable silence surrounds us and I can't help but bask in the feeling of having her delicate hand in mine.

'I could get used to this'I think to myself blissfully. I notice Olive beginning to approach us nervously and I stop walking. Emma looks at me confusedly and I gesture my head towards Olive. We wait patiently as Olive catches up to us and I notice that she is looking at me nervously.

"Jake would you mind helping me with something?" she asks me hopefully.

"Oh of course" I say nicely. I look over at Emma and she looking back at me, her eyes full of hurt. I squeeze her hand reassuringly and smile at her. I give her a look that clearly says ' _Don't worry I'll be back soon_ ' before releasing her hand and following Olive across the yard.

"So what do you need help with?" I ask curiously.

"Well I was thinking about making an apple pie and ice cream for dessert tonight and I was hoping you'd help me pick the apples, I'd ask Enoch but he's in a very bad mood" she says. I nod understandingly, I've noticed that Enoch doesn't like me at all, but that's not a good reason to take it out on Olive. I follow her to a large apple tree and find that there's a large woven basket resting under the shade of the tree. I look back at all of the kids and miss Peregrine and see that they're watching us curiously. I look up at the tree and see that all of the apples are out of reach.

 _'Looks like it's time to show off_ ' I think to myself amusedly.

"Olive you should step back, I'll handle this" I say confidently. She looks at me confusedly before backing up cautiously. I smirk and begin to shift, I feel my teeth sharpen,my bones shifting, and my nails turn into claws. Soon I'm standing on all fours and I see that everyone is staring at me shocked.

"What? Have you guys never seen a black bear?" I call out curiously. Their eyes widen even more if that's even possible, and continue to watch me like I'm a fish out of water. I chuckle and turn back to the tree and begin to move towards it. I stand on my hind legs and begin to climb up the tree slowly. It's been a few months since I've done something like this and I don't want to fall. I climb up the trunk of the tree and slowly begin to move onto one of the thick branches that has tons of ripe apples hanging from it.

"Here I go, wish me luck I'm gonna need it" I call out jokingly. Before any of them can say anything I stand on my hind legs and slam my front paws down on the branch, knocking several apples to the ground. I do this again and again until there are enough apples on the ground to make at least four pies. I shift back into human form and I'm on my hands and knees, looking down at Olive amusedly.

"How's that for apple picking? I think you have enough apples for a lot of pies" I say to her jokingly. She lets out a small laugh and I carefully climb out of the tree. As soon as I'm on the ground I get tackled. I look up and see Emma giggling on top of me, amazement and wonder in her eyes.

"When will you stop surprising us?" she asks amusedly.

"Not for a very _very_ long time, I'm full of surprises" I laugh. She smiles down at me and I can't help getting lost in her beautiful eyes. Someone clears their throat and that's when I remember where we are. Emma quickly gets off of me and helps me stand back up.

"I'm sorry Jake" she whispers embarrassedly.

"Don't be" I whisper back, shooting her a quick smile before focusing back on the others. They're all looking at me like I have two heads.

"Shape shifter remember?" I remind them. They all snap out of it and nod understandingly.

"Well Jake that was very impressive" miss Peregrine says amazed.

"Thank you" I say politely. She smiles at me and I begin putting the apples into the basket. And once the basket is completely filled I pick it up and begin carrying it to the house, ignoring Bronwyn's offer to help me. I carry it into the kitchen and place it on a table, then I grab a knife and begin cutting up the apples. I'm not going to stay here without helping out, even if it is only for a few days.

"Jake you don't have to do that" Olive insists. I look up and see her watching me from the doorway, I flash her a quick smile before refocusing on cutting the apples.

"I know but it's the right thing to do, if I'm going to stay here for a few days I'm going to earn it" I say softly. Olive walks over and grabs another knife, and begins cutting apples with me.

"Thank you Jake" she says softly. Out of the corner of my eye I see her giving me a small smile, I turn my head to her slightly and grin at her.

"Anytime" I say softly. We finish cutting up the apples, and as we begin following the recipe I realize something.

"This is almost exactly my grandpa's recipe" I say amazed. Olive lets out a small laugh and I look over at her curiously.

"I'm not laughing at you Jake, it's just that I'm remembering the first time I showed Abe this recipe" she giggles.

"You taught him how to make his famous apple pie?" I say amazed, grandpa had told me he'd learned the recipe from an old friend but I'd never put the pieces together. Olive lets out a big laugh and I can' help letting out a small one.

"Well yes, but I'm curious to know what he did differently" she says amusedly, remembering my comment from earlier.

"Well he used more cinnamon in his version, he used it in the crust, his homemade whipped cream and ice cream" I explain to her. I remember when I used to help him make it on holidays, birthdays, and any other special occasions, it was another thing we did for bonding time.

"Well then what are we waiting for? I'll get the cinnamon" she says happily before making her way to a cupboard.

"Olive you don't have t-" i start to say.

"I insist, I can see in your eyes how much that recipe means to you. I want you to feel welcome here, and you can come back anytime" she says sweetly.

"Thank you for trying to make me feel welcome here, it's different than what I'm used to" I admit. She stops what she's doing and turns to me, the cinnamon jar in her hand.

"What do you mean 'different than what you're used to'" she asks me concerned.

"It's just that I've never had anyone try so hard to make me feel welcome, and now to have a whole houseful trying me feel like I belong, it's just a really big shock" I say, not looking her in the eye. She starts to say something, but is cut off by the sound of the kitchen door opening behind us. We turn around and see Emma standing there nervously. I give her a small smile and she relaxes slightly.

"Hey Em, did you need something?" I ask her curiously, and flash her a smile. She blushes and I internally give myself a pat on the back.

"Actually I was hoping you'd take a walk with me" she says shyly.

"Sure, just give me one moment" I say softly before walking over to Olive and giving her my grandpa's recipe. She gives me a look that clearly says _'This conversation isn't over'_ before I turn around and join Emma. I take her hand and we exit the house, I gently swing our joined hands between us as we continue to walk around.

"Jake" she says nervously as she stops walking. I look over at her and see that she's looking down at our hands. I give her hand a gentle squeeze, encouraging her to finish what she wanted to say.

"What are you going to do? When you leave, I mean" she stammers.

"Well I'm actually planning on exploring all of the places my grandpa told me about as a kid, guess I can cross this place off of the list" I say before letting out a small chuckle. She gives me a small sad smile before looking down at the ground.

"Hey I'll come back and visit as often as you want, I promise" I say softly while gently nudging my shoulder against hers. She looks back up at me and I see tears in her eyes, sliding down her cheeks.

"I'll miss you" she says before hugging me.

"I'll miss you too" I say softly as I wrap my arms around her. She buries her face into my chest and I rest my chin on the top of her head. I rub her back gently, and we stay like that for a few minutes. If I stay here for much longer I'll never want to leave, it'll be better for both of us if I leave tomorrow. I heal very fast, I suppose that comes with the territory of being a shape shifter though.

 _'You could stay'_ my heart says.

 _'If you stay all you'll get is heartbreak in the end'_ my brain argues.

' _Shut up!'_ I internally shout, the voices immediately stop. I release Emma and give her a small smile, she gives me a small smile too before playfully pushing on my shoulder. I smirk and begin to move towards her. She giggles as she begins to run away, with me not too far away from her. I could catch her very easily with my speed, but it's more fun this way. I wrap my arms around her waist, and she giggles as I turn her around to face me. I pick her up and spin her around a few times. I put her down and we both laugh. We start leaning into each other slowly and our lips are almost close enough brush against each other.

"Jake Emma dinner time!" Miss Peregrine calls from the house.


	7. One Step Foreword, Two Steps Back

Jake's POV

I pull away and notice that Emma has an adorable blush on her cheeks. I give her a small smile and she smiles back.

"We should probably go inside before any of them come out to search for us" I say softly.

"Oh yeah, good idea" she says quietly, trying to hide her disappointment. She starts to move away from me, but I grab her wrist to stop her. She looks back at me confusedly.

 _'Time to make a move'_ I think to myself. Not giving myself a chance to chicken out, I quickly lean in and give her a small kiss on the cheek. When I'm pulling away I notice that her blush has deepened. I smile at her as I release her wrist. Then I begin walking ahead of her, leading her to the house. Our walk back to the house was filled with a comfortable silence. I could tell she wanted to ask me about the kiss, but didn't know how. I hurry up the steps of the porch and hold the door open for her.

"Thanks" Emma says sweetly as she steps inside.

"You're welcome" I say as I follow her inside, closing the door behind me. Once we've entered the dinning room Emma sits in one of the empty chairs.

I go to sit down in the chair next to her but I'm startled when Millard lets out a protest.

"Hey! Excuse me!" the invisible boy protests.

"Millard! go put on some clothes, it's not polite to eat nude" miss Peregrine instructs.

"Oh alright" Millard grumbles. I hear him get up from the chair and leave the room. I sit down in the now empty chair and watch as everyone begins settling in at the table. Millard, now wearing pants,a long sleeve shirt, and his hat enters the room as he's adjusting a vest he's putting on over the shirt. He sits down at the only other empty seat and everyone begins to eat, except one.

"Claire why aren't you eating?" miss Peregrine asks kindly, looking at the little girl. I look at the little one across from me and she's looking at her plate shyly.

"She's embarrassed in front of Jake" Hugh answers for her.

"Don't be" I say encouragingly, giving the little girl a smile. She looks up at me and gives me an adorable little smile. She picks up the turkey leg from her plate and moves it to the back of her head. After a few second she puts it back on her plate and it's almost completely bare of any meat. I smile at her for a few seconds before refocusing on my own food.

"So Jake what's it like in America?" Fiona asks curiously. The other children let out similar questions.

"Well it's not as great as this place" I chuckle quietly, trying to hide my disappointment. I don't think miss Peregrine would appreciate me telling her wards about the future.

"You see children, nothing wrong with good old here and now" miss Peregrine says delightfully. We all finish our supper and Olive brings out two hot apple pies, then goes back into the kitchen and brings out two huge bowls filled with my grandpa's homemade ice cream and whipped cream.

"This looks positively delightful Olive, great job" Bronwyn compliments her.

"Wow Olive, why'd you change your recipe?" Horace asks curiously, looking at the flecks of cinnamon in the ice cream.

"Actually this is Abe's version of my recipe, Jake taught me how to make it" Olive says while giving me a warm smile. The children and miss Peregrine all look at me happily, and I can't help blushing.

"It was nothing, really all I did was point out how similar my grandpa's recipe was to hers" I say quietly.

"Nonsense Jake, this looks delightful" miss Peregrine says encouragingly. Everyone piles their plates with the treat and I hear everyone let out moans as they take their first bite. I stay focused on my slice that has ice cream and whipped cream on top. I take a bite out of it and memories flash through my head.

"This is delicious" Emma exclaims next to me before taking another bite.

"Olive I have to say you're losing your touch" Enoch says rudely and the room goes silent. I look down the table at Olive and see that she has hurt in her eyes.

"Enoch, Olive worked very hard to ma-" I begin to say.

"Oh I know she did, really I do. But come on,could she make her feelings for you anymore obvious? This pie is disgusting, no wonder it's Abe's recipe" he says sarcastically. Everyone gasps and looks at me nervously, wondering how I'll respond.

"Jake-" Emma starts to say as I get up from my seat.

"Now you listen to me pretty boy, I don't like you, and I don't care that you hate me. But you better treat my grandfather's memory with god damn respect" I growl out, standing next to his chair by the time I've finished speaking. He opens his mouth to say something but I cut him off.

"And another thing, how dare you treat Olive like that? She's supposed to be your friend remember? well let me show you how you're supposed to treat her, watch and learn" I say angrily.

Emma's POV

"And another thing, how dare you treat Olive like that? She's supposed to be your friend remember? well let me show you how you're supposed to treat her, watch and learn" Jake says angrily. I've never seen Jake so angry before, and it frightens me. We all watch in shock as he begins to shift, and instead of the boy with black hair and sky blue eyes I've developed a crush on, an exact replica of Enoch stand in his place. The look alike turns to Olive and gives her a big smile.

"I'm so sorry Olive I don't know what came over me, this pie is absolutely delightful and I hope you'll make it again soon" he says sweetly. Oh my bird it even sounds like Enoch. Olive blushes and gives the look alike a small smile.

"Oh thank you Enoch, I'm glad you liked it" she says happily, playing along.

"See Enoch that is how your supposed to treat your friends, especially after they've worked so hard on something for everyone to enjoy" the look alike says looking at the real Enoch as he begins to shift. Once Jake is back to normal he gives Enoch another glare.

"Oh and if you ever _ever_ talk about my grandfather that way again, I will not as understanding as I was today" growls out.

"Whatever" Enoch huffs as he gets out of his chair and marches out of the room, probably back to his workshop.

"I'm sorry about that Olive" Jake says apologetically, giving her a small smile.

"No that's alright, thank you though for doing that. I really appreciate it" she says softly.

"Anytime" he says gently, giving her a small pat on the back before returning to his seat.

Jake POV

As soon as I sit back in my seat the room explodes with a series of questions shooting around the room.

"How did you do that?" Hugh asks curiously.

"Well done Jake it's about time someone put Enoch in his place" Horace compliments me.

"Wow Jake that was amazing" Fiona says.

"Alright children settle down" miss Peregrine says. They all relax and we finish our dessert. Suddenly the phone rings and miss Peregrine looks at all of us.

"I suggest you all get ready for movie time while I answer that" miss Peregrine says.

"But you always let us stay for it" Claire whines,followed by similar protests. Miss Peregrine gives us all a look and the protests end. Emma leads me into the living room and we all sit down. Emma and I sit on a couch by ourselves and Millard gives us mugs of hot chocolate. Horace settles down on a chair in between the two couches. He pulls out a monocle and holds it up to his eye, and a bright light projects from the eye and onto the wall in front of us. We see the dream start out with Horace trying on a new suit, and change into a woman being wheeled away from a villainous man. Then it changes to Emma and I looking like we're about to kiss. And I recognize that from what happened earlier. I notice the younger ones leaning in eagerly and out of the corner of my eye I notice Emma is blushing slightly.

"Alright that's enough for now" miss Peregrine says as she takes the monocle, ending the projection. Suddenly booming noises erupt from the house and the house itself begins to shake.

"Come watch the changeover with us Jake" Emma says excitedly as she tugs on my hand and leads me outside, it has begun to rain. I follow her into the yard and miss Peregrine now wearing a gas mask, sets up a record player and places an old fashioned clock next to it. She starts the record which begins playing _run rabbit run_ , and pulls out a pocket watch. We watch as the war ships begin flying over the house and one of them drops a bomb right over the house. Miss Peregrine begins rewinding the pocket watch, causing everything to stand still. This is beginning to remind me of a verse from _A Thousand Years_ by _Christina_ _Perry_ , one of my favorite songs. We watch as everything begins to rewind, the rain stops and the sky moves from night to day and to night again. Everything is calm and the ships and the bomb are gone. Emma giggles at my reaction and I give her a small smile. Suddenly an Avocet crashes on the ground a few feet from us and we all look at it in shock. Emma races over to it and carefully picks it up.

"It's miss Avocet" miss Peregrine says alarmed as she takes the wounded bird from Emma. We all gather everything and rush inside.

"Alright children time for bed, Emma take Jake to Abe's room" miss Peregrine orders. Emma nods and leads me upstairs to the attic. We stand there in the middle of the room in silence for what feels like hours, when I finally work up the courage to say something.

"Well today has been...interesting" I say awkwardly.

"Yeah, I hope miss Avocet is alright though" Emma says concerned.

"Me too. Listen about that kiss, I'm sorry if I made things awkward between us" I apologize, looking at the ground.

"Jake you didn't make things awkward, look I-I'm actually very happy that you kissed me" she stutters. I look up and see that she's looking at me shyly. I take a few steps forward and hug her. She hugs me back automatically, and I can't help melting into our embrace.

"Goodnight Emma" I whisper into her ear.

"Goodnight Jake" she says softly. I reluctantly release her and she walks out of the room, shooting me a quick smile before she closes the door behind her. I look around the room and notice that my backpack is resting against the pillows on my bed, I guess I'd forgotten to take care of it earlier and one of the children brought it up here for me. I walk over to it and pull out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, my normal pajamas. I quickly get changed and put my bag on the floor. I lay on the bed and after a few minutes I fall asleep, lost in my dreams of holding onto Emma's hand as we race off to explore the distant lands from the stories my grandpa had told me when I was young.

I wake up and all I feel is dread. I'm leaving today, and I know logically that I'm doing the right thing, that they'll be safer without me. But my heart isn't in it, I'll be leaving it here leaving it with the girl that has managed to steal it after knowing me only for a few days. I don't know if or when I'll be able to come back, but I will definitely write letters to her, to all of them, often. I quickly get changed into a pair of dark jeans, and a white tank top. I put on my socks and sneakers and make sure I have everything else packed. After I comb my hair I take off the bandages and see that wound is completely healed, as if I'd never been hurt in the first place. I sigh and take my brown leather jacket that had belonged to my grandfather, out of my bag, making sure I keep my phone in the bag and zip it closed again. I put on the jacket and put my arm through one of the straps of my backpack. I slowly go down the stairs, my heart getting heavier with each step. I enter the kitchen and everyone looks up at me from their seats at the table, any happiness they had on their faces quickly turned into concern when they saw the expression on my face. I see that a woman with grey hair is sitting on a chair next to miss Peregrine, that must be miss Avocet.

"Jake what's wrong?" Emma asks me concerned, worry flooding in her eyes.

"I'm leaving" I say regretfully. The children all gasp and begin begging me to stay. I look at Emma and see heartbreak in her eyes, she stands up and moves towards me. I watch as she gets closer to me and collapses against my chest, I wrap my arms around her and hold her close as she starts shaking. I rub her back for a few minutes until she's calmed down enough to look at me. She has tears in her eyes and I gently wipe them away.

"Look after my heart, I'm leaving it with you" I whisper so only she could hear me. She nods her head up and down and I kiss her forehead. I look at miss Peregrine and see that she has sadness in her eyes.

"Thank you for letting me stay miss Peregrine, but I think it's time for this lone wolf to hit the road again" I say thankfully, giving her a small smile. She nods at me understandingly and they all stand up and follow me out into the hall. I stop in front of a mirror that's next to the door and look at my reflection. I see the sadness in my eyes and feel my heart clench. I look away from my reflection and turn to look at the others.

"It was nice to meet all of you, and I hope I'll be able to comeback someday" I say while looking at all of them.

"Come back anytime" miss Peregrine says encouragingly, giving me a small sad smile. I give Emma one last hug before she goes back over to the others.

"We'll see each other again, don't worr-" I get cut off by something grabbing my shoulder behind and yanking me backwards. The last thing I see before disappearing into the mirror is the terrified expression on Emma's face.


	8. The Impossible Becomes Possible

Jake's POV

Darkness. That's the first thing I see when I turn around to see what had grabbed me.

"I'm sorry about that Jake" a voice says to my right. I turn my head and see my childhood friend, the boy with no eyes, looking at me with regret on his face.

"Oh thank god it's you, why'd you have to scare me like that?" I say while putting my hand over my heart.

"Before you leave, I need to tell you something. I should have told you long ago" he says regretfully. Now I'm really _really_ confused and worried, I've never seen him act like this before.

"Is something wrong? Are you ok?" I ask him, concerned.

"My name is Victor Bruntley" he says, not looking at me. It takes me a few seconds before I recognize that name.

"You're Bronwyn's brother" I say shocked. He looks up at me slowly and nods his head, pain all over his face.

"When I died, I went off in search of Abe, hoping he could help me. And when I'd finally found him, he was combing his hair, with you beside him" he starts to explain.

"And when I saw that you could see me and he couldn't, I'd hoped that one day you'd be able to help me talk to my family one last time, so I could finally rest in peace. When you'd slipped through the mirror, you'd reminded me so much of Bronwyn and all I wanted was to protect you. So I began treating you like you were my brother, and you are Jake. Please don't hate me, I just want you to know the truth" he begs me, tears sliding down his cheeks. Now things are beginning to make sense, our first meeting,how close we've become over the years, and why he'd never liked telling me about his past. I step closer to him, so now we're standing face to face.

"Vic I don't hate you, I am angry that you didn't tell me this before, but I don't hate you" I say softly. He sniffs and nods his head, I decide to take a risk and move forward, I wrap my arms around him and he melts into my hug.

"The next time you have information like this, you need to tell me right away" I say softly. He nods against my shoulder.

"Okay" he whimpers into my shoulder, his voice breaking.

"Okay" he says again, quieter this time. After a few minutes we break away from our hug.

"I miss her" he sobs, and I know automatically that he's talking about Bronwyn.

"I know buddy, I know" I say softly as I rub his back.

"I-I'd give a-anything to be able to hug her again" he sobs. I wish I knew how to make him feel better, suddenly an idea pops into my head.

"There is a way" I say softly. He looks up at me, confusion and excitement on his face.

Emma's POV

"Give him back! Give him back you can't have him" I shout for the hundredth time while banging on the glass.

"Miss bloom banging on the mirror won't help any, and if it breaks Jake would have to find another way out" miss Peregrine says, trying to get me to calm down.

"Miss Peregrine what if it's hurting Jake?" I sob, referring to the thing that had reached its hand through the glass and pulled Jake into the mirror with it.

"I'm sure he's just fine Emma, I'm sure he'll pop out at any moment" she says soothingly, trying to calm me. I sniffle and look back at the mirror once before walking across the room and crying into Olive's shoulder. She wraps an arm around my shoulder and tries to sooth me, but the only thing that will sooth me is Jake coming out of that mirror and holding me close as he tells me he's alright. Suddenly we hear noise coming from the mirror and we all look at it hopefully. Suddenly a man with brown hair falls back first through the mirror and Jake lands on top of him.

"Ouch. Jake why'd you have to push me?" he groans in pain and my eyes widen. It's not possible, his body is upstairs.

"I'm sorry but you were taking to long" Jake says apologetically as he rolls off of him. He then helps the young man stand up .

"Well still you didn't have to push me so hard" the young man grumbles as he turns to look at us. We all freeze and look at him in shock, naturally Bronwyn is the first one to snap out of it.

"Victor!" she squeals before running towards her brother. Victor smiles and gets on his knees, ready to hold his sister for the first time in years.

"Wait Bronwyn don't! you'll fall-" Jake tries to warn her, but it's too late. Bronwyn goes straight through Victor, and Victor looks like he's about to cry.

"-Through" Jake finishes sadly. I snap out of my thoughts and I race across the room, launching myself into his arms. He picks me up off the ground and holds me against him.

"Please don't do that to me again" I beg him as I look him in the eyes. He puts me down on the ground but doesn't let go of me.

"I'll try" he says.

"No, promise me" I say firmly. He chuckles and gently rubs my back.

"I promise" he says gently. He then lets go of me and turns to Victor.

"C'mon it's time to put this plan in action" he says and Victor nods. Before any of us can ask either of them what that means, Victor leads Jake up the stairs quickly. A few minutes later they come back down and Jake is carrying Victor's body. Jake puts him on the floor across from all of us, then turns to Victor.

"Are you ready" Jake asks him.

"Ready as I'll ever be" Victor says nervously, giving him a small smile. Jake takes a deep breath and kneels down next to the body as he takes something out from under his arm and I see that it's a beating heart in a jar. He shifts so he looks like Enoch, and takes the heart out of the jar. He puts it in Victor's chest. Then he shifts back into normal form.

"Alright Vic it's time for you to do your part" Jake says. Victor nods and disappears into his body. Jake takes another deep breath and closes his eyes, and that's when we all realize something amazing is about to happen.

Jake's POV

I open my eyes and look down at the body of my friend, my brother, I know what I have to do and I'm scared about what's about to happen. But Bronwyn needs her brother back, and I'm the only one that can bring him back. I focus all of my energy to my hands and hold them over Victor's chest. A blue light, the same color of my eyes, emit from my hands and goes into his chest.

"Jake what's happening?" Emma asks me fearfully. I turn to look at her and my heart sinks as I realize that it's possible I won't survive long enough to tell her how I feel.

"I'm correcting a wrong that's been done" I call out to her. I focus back on my hands and begin to push the rest of my energy out, determined to make this work. Suddenly the light pushes me backwards and I crash into the wall. I get on my hands and knees and look at Victor's body hopefully. Just when I'm beginning think it didn't work, he lets out a groan and rolls over, now facing me, and opens his hazel eyes. Everyone begins cheering and races over to his side, chatting excitedly. I smile weakly as I watch Bronwyn hits her brother for the first time in years. Victor looks so happy and is holding her close and whispering to her. I shakily begin to stand up and keep my hand against the wall to support myself. Emma turns to look at me and when she sees the shape I'm in she gets everyone's attention by gasping loudly. They all gasp when they see me and I give them a weak smile before falling to the left, and onto my side. Emma races towards me and I feel my energy fading.

"I'm sorry I broke my promise" I choke out weakly. She sobs and strokes my cheek,looking down at me lovingly.

"Jake what's happening?" she asks me fearfully.

"I transfered a big part of my soul into Victor, so now I'm fading and soon the rest of my soul will go into the astral plain" I say, and Emma looks me confusedly.

"I sacrificed myself to bring Victor back" I explain. She sobs and I feel my heart crack at the sound.

"No you can't die" she sobs. Victor rushes over to me and is now kneeling next to Emma.

"Jake? C'mon buddy you're gonna be okay, you can't leave us yet" he pleads, tears pricking his eyes.

"It's okay Victor, I knew what I was doing" I say quietly, trying to get him to calm down.

"You knew this would happen? You knew you would die but you saved me anyway?" he exclaims, tears sliding down his cheeks. I look between him,Emma,and the others, who now have tears in their eyes also.

"Some things are worth dying for" I choke out. They all let out sobs, and I give them a weak smile.

"Dying is just another big adventure" I say weakly, trying to lighten the mood. I then look at Emma and gently put my hand over hers,which is still resting on my cheek.

"Dying doesn't seem so bad, as long as your face is the last thing I see" I whisper. She sobs and rests her forehead against mine. I look back at Victor, and see that he's watching us with pain in his eyes.

"Our family...will look to you now, take care of them...brother" I choke out as the darkness begins to surround me.

"Take care...of them" I say one last time as I close my eyes and succumb to the darkness.

I open my eyes, and notice that I'm not feeling anymore pain. I sit up and look around. I stand up and take a few steps, trying to analyse my surroundings. I look behind me, at where I once was and see my body. I gasp and back up, startled.

"Jake? What on earth are you doing here? it's not your time yet?" a young man exclaims confusedly as he steps out of the darkness and moves towards me.

"Do I know you?" I ask him confusedly, taking in his appearance. He looks like he's about my age, has black hair, and his eyes are the same shade of blue mine are.

"It's me tygrysku" he says, and my eyes widen. I watch in shock as he begins to age, and stops when he looks exactly like the familiar face of my grandfather.

"Grandpa?" I say shocked. He smiles at me and takes a few steps towards me, I meet him the rest of the way and we hug.

"I miss you so much" I mumble into his shirt.

"I miss you too" he says calmly, rubbing my back.

"But that still doesn't explain what you're doing here" he says as he breaks our hug,holding onto my shoulders at arms length.

"I gave up my soul, to bring Victor back" I explain. His eyes widen and he looks at me in shock.

"Bronwyn needs her brother" I say softly.

"How do you even know about Victor? I only ever mentioned him once, I never told you he died" he asks me confusedly. That's when I begin to explain how I first met him, and everything that's been going on since he'd died that day in the woods.

Emma's POV

I sob and kiss his forehead once before standing up. I walk over to miss Peregrine and start crying against her shoulder.

"W-why would he do that for m-me?" Victor cries, his voice breaking. He's still kneeling by Jake, one of his hands on his chest. I break away from miss Peregrine's embrace and turn around to look at him.

"He knew how much we all m-missed you" Bronwyn whimpers as she walks across the room and hugs her big brother.

"Alma! Alma I've just remembered" miss Avocet exclaims sadly.

"What is it?" miss Peregrine says worriedly, rushing over to him.

"The wights, they've found my new loop" she sobs. Everyone gasps and miss Avocet sobs.

"They set up their machine in the basement" she says.

"The machine?" miss Peregrine says confusedly

"The experiment, they plan to do it again" miss Avocet explains, and miss Peregrine's eyes widen.

"I'm sorry children we cannot stay here anymore" miss Peregrine says. We all gasp and everyone let's out cries in protest.

"We leave on the first ferry in the morning, pack your things and only sandwiches for supper" she orders as she begins to prepare.

"When will we come back?" Claire asks curiously.

"Never. Without miss Peregrine the loop will close" Enoch answers.

"But our house" Claire exclaims sadly.

"Don't cry, miss Peregrine will find you another lovely house, somewhere else" miss Avocet says soothingly. I take one last look at the love of my life before rushing upstairs to my bedroom, and begin packing.

Jake's POV

"Well you've certainly had your hands full" grandpa chuckles after I've finished telling him everything.

"Yeah" I say sadly, thinking about Emma and the others.

"Jake you need to go back now, they need you" he says.

"But how? I'm dead remember?" I ask him confused.

"No you're not Jake. I felt your heartbeat when I hugged you, its faint but it's still there" he explains. My eyes widen and I realize that I can go back.

"I wish you could come with me" I say sadly.

"I know. But your grandmother is waiting for me" he says, giving me a small smile. My grandma died nine years ago, and I could see that he was happy to finally be able to reunite with her.

"What do I do?" I ask him.

"Go back into your body and protect our family" he says giving me a small smile. I nod and begin walking over to my body. Once I'm standing in front of it I look back at my grandfather one last time.

"I love you" I call out to him.

"I love you too" he calls back, and I disappear back into my body.

I wake up and all I feel is a heavy pain in my chest.

 _'Damn that hurts'_ I think to myself as I hold back a wince.

"Children Mr. Barron is going to take me, and to assure his safety he wasn't me to go into that cage and for all of you to be locked into the sitting room" miss Peregrine says calmly.

"You're sacrificing yourself for us?" Enoch says disbelievingly.

"Mr. Barron has a hollow coming here Mr.O'Conner"miss Peregrine says firmly, and Enoch remains silent. I listen as miss Peregrine says her goodbyes to the children as they go into the sitting room one by one. It's killing me to play dead right now, but I know that this is the only way I can make sure the children are safe. I listen as miss Peregrine says her one last goodbye to the children as she closes the double doors. Then I hear wings flapping and a cage door closing. I hear footsteps move towards me and feel a kick to my stomach.

"Looks like you've failed to protect one of your wards Alma" Mr. Barron chuckles. I hear him move towards the sitting room and that's when I risk opening my eyes. I see miss Peregrine in bird form watching me and I wink at her, then I quickly close my eyes.

"Boo" Mr. Barron exclaims as he opens the doors, and hear many of the children cry out in fright. I clench my jaw to keep from growling, no one torments _my_ family and gets away with it. Mr. Barron chuckles as he shuts the doors again. I hear him move to the cage, pick it up, open the door and close it behind him. I lay there for a few more seconds to make sure he isn't going to come back in, then I open my eyes and crawl to the door. I shakily stand up and lock it, so no one can just come in. I stumble across the hallway and see a small mountain of suitcases scattered in the middle of the hallway. I kneel down and take off my backpack. I sit it in front of me and unzip it, I put all of the suitcases into my backpack and zip it closed. I put on my backpack and stand back up. I stumble over to the doors of the sitting room and unlock them. I push them open and hear gasps as the door open. I see the younger children clinging to one another with fear in their eyes. The fear disappears and they all look at me in shock. I scan the room and see that everyone is accounted for.

"You owe me _big time_ " I grumble, looking and pointing at Victor, with a small smile on my face. They all exclaim happily and rush towards me, I hug all of the little ones twice and greet Olive and Enoch happily. Emma rushes into my arms and I hold her to me tightly.

"You were dead! You were dead" she sobs over and over into my shoulder.

"Shhhh Shhh I'm here, I'm here sweetheart" I whisper into her ear soothingly while rubbing her back. I see Victor approaching us and pull away from her slightly, keeping an arm around her waist.

"I'm so glad your back! Cause we're about to die" he exclaims relieved, and I feel my eyes widen in shock.


	9. It's Gone

Jake's POV

"Alright. Is everyone almost ready to go?" I ask everyone, automatically taking the role of the leader, and they all nod.

"Okay, well first we have to deal with a hollow, it's on its way here and we need to be prepared" I order. They all nod and begin gathering things that could be used as weapons. Suddenly the phone rings.

"Jake I think maybe you should be the one to answer it tonight" Emma says gently. I nod and go into the hall, I pick up the phone.

"Hello?" I say confusedly.

"Hello this is Abe, who is this?" the familiar voice greets me.

"You don't know me...I'm Jake" I say, trying to avoid getting emotional.

"Ah your new. Well welcome to the family Jake, I don't have much time so just tell miss Peregrine that I'm at the airbase and that I'm fine" my grandpa says warmly.

"Well I just wanted to say that...I miss you and I'm sorry if I ever disappointed you and that you're the best grandfather in the world " I say apologetically before hanging up the phone. I feel tears prick my eyes and I sniffle once. I feel a hand gently touch my shoulder and turn my head, and see Emma looking at me concerned.

"Jake are you alright?" she asks me worriedly.

"Oh um yeah, yeah I'm okay Emma" I say while wiping away the tears. Emma frowns and looks up at me sadly, I sigh and wrap my left arm around her waist, and gently pull her to me. I rest my forehead against hers and take a deep breath. I pull away slightly and kiss her on the forehead.

"I'll be okay Emma" I say softly. She snuggles up to me and I laugh a little, I hug her for a few seconds before I remember our situation.

"C'mon lets rejoin the others" I say softly, nudging her towards the sitting room. She nods and I lead her by the hand into the room. Everyone looks at us as we enter the room, and I could see the fear in their eyes.

"Okay listen up! The hollow could be here any moment so what I need everyone to do is block the windows and the doors. That will buy us some time" I say strictly. They all immediately begin doing what I asked, Bronwyn and Victor push one of the couches against the two double doors to,blocking the entrance. Then they push the other couch across the room so it's against the other set of doors. The children all go over to that couch and I follow them. Emma stands beside me and we watch as miss Avocet gets a cross bow and stands in front of us.

"Now children now that you're all here there are a few rules, your primary job is to stay safe, leave the hollow to me. I don't want to see any heroics. Now those of you with garden tools, I must insist that you-" she gets cut of by a large black tentacle busting through the doors behind her and pulling her through the hole. We all scream in fright and I see the hollow enter through the gapping hole, using two of its tongues to put two eyes in its mouth. Enoch moves in front of us and holds his tool out in front of him, ready to strike the invisible foe.

"Enoch look out!" I shout as the hollow grabs him and starts banging him against the wall and glass cabinets. I grab the cross bow off of the floor and aim it at the hollow.

"Everyone get to the attic" I shout as I shoot at the hollow, turns out I'm a horrible shot with it because I miss. I hear the couch being moved from the doors and the children running out of the room.

"Jake!" I hear Emma shout alarmed.

"Emma go! I'll be right behind you" I shout at her. I hear her run out of the room and shoot at the hollow again, and this time I hit it, causing it to shriek and drop Enoch as it falls back against the wall. Olive runs back over to me and we help Enoch get up. We run out of the room and I hear the hollow get up and begin destroying things in the room.

 _'Damn it!'_ I internally curse as I hear the hollow begin to follow us up the stairs. Emma looks back at me as we run into the attic. I lock the attic door once I make sure everyone's inside and look around for a possible exit, and see that the windows are our only option.

"We'll have to go through the windows" I announce as I walk over to one of the windows on the wall. I open it and peak my head out, and notice a tree right next to the house.

"Fiona is there anything you can do to that tree?" I ask as I pull my head back in.

"Yes" she answers as she begins crawling out the window.

"Be careful" I tell her as she begins to slide down the roof and onto a thin ledge. Then I jump out and land onto one of the small landings on the roof. I look up and see Emma looking down at the ground nervously from her spot on the windowsill.

"It's alright sweetheart, slide down and I'll catch you" I call out to her. She looks at me and nods her head shakily. She climbs out the window and slides down, I reach out and grab onto her arm and pull her over to the landing I'm on. Fiona begins walking along the edge towards the tree and the other children begin sliding down. I hold onto Emma's hand and help her slide down onto the ledge. Once she begins to slide I release her hand so I don't get pulled down with her. The twins slide down together and Emma helps them move along the ledge. Then I carefully slide onto the ledge and turn so I'm facing the roof, and look up at the window. Claire is looking down with a scared look on her face.

"Claire come on down" I call out gently, holding out one of my arms. She slides down and I gently pull her to me. Olive is the only one that hasn't slid down yet and I look up to see if she's alright. She looks behind her after hearing a loud bang before sliding down too. We all begin walking down the ledge towards Fiona, who is almost finished creating a bridge for us by extending one of the tree's branches. It is raining hard and I hear the planes beginning to fly towards us. The children begin walking across the branch quickly and I hear another loud crash from the house.

"Go with the others, I'll join you in a moment" I tell Emma as I give her a small push towards the branch. She looks back at me nervously and I give her a small nod, encouraging her to keep going. She quickly walks across the branch and I look back at the window. The hollow crashes through the window, causing the glass to break. I quickly remove the crossbow from my shoulder and aim it. I hear the bomb be released from the plane and the hollow begins to get closer to me. I shoot it in the shoulder, causing it to shriek and stumble back a little. I hear all of the children land on the ground and hear the bomb whistling down as it begins to approach my location.

"Jake!" I hear several of them shout frightened.

 _'Time to fly'_ I think to myself as I throw the crossbow down onto the ground by the others. I look back at the hollow for a second as it begins to move towards me before jumping completely off of the roof, causing the others to scream. I close my eyes and shift into a raven, I open my eyes and begin to fly down just as a loud explosion occurs behind me. I shift back into human form and land next to Emma, I looks at the house and see it burning away. Suddenly much like reset the scenery begins to change, the house looking normal during the daytime and changing back into being in flames in the night.

"Was that?" I begin to ask.

"A loop closing" Emma says.

"It's gone" I hear her voice break at these words. I wrap an arm around her shoulders, giving her a little bit of comfort. After a few minutes I remove my arm and grab the crossbow from the ground and put it back onto my shoulder.

"C'mon lets go" I say gently as I lead them all to the beach. After a few minutes of walking we quickly reach it

"Sorry Jake" Fiona says apologetically as we walk along the sand. I turn to her and give her a confused look.

 _'What on earth is she apologizing to me for?'_ I think to myself confusedly, that's when I realize that I'm now stuck in 1943.

"It's alright Fiona" I say reassuringly.

"What do we do now?" she asks me, and I notice that her and all of the other young ones are looking at me like I'm their protector, like I'm their ymbryne.

"Is there any sign of Barron and miss Peregrine?" I ask them.

"Gone, Barron must have had a boat" Olive answers. I look out at the sea for a moment, then focus back on the others

"Well we have to go after them. Does anyone know where they might be headed.

"Miss Avocet said that Barron was setting up an experiment in the basement of the Blackpool Tower in her loop" Victor tells me, and that's when I remember my grandfather's letter.

"That's in England" I recall.

"But Blackpool is miles away, the next ferry doesn't leave for hours. We'd never make it in time" Millard says.

"Not unless we go by boat too" Emma interjects. We all look at her confusedly, wondering what she meant.

"Wow" I say amazed. The children and I are watching as Emma uses her peculiarity to remove all of the water from the inside of the shipwreck. We're all swimming a little above the floor of one of it's giant rooms, our heads surrounded by air bubbles that Emma had blown to us. Once all the water is gone I help Bronwyn and Victor seal up the doors, while olive begins lighting the engines. The motors start running and I notice a bunch of the lights begin to turn on. Then Hugh and Claire help me hold onto the wheel as the ship begins to rise from its watery grave, Claire holding onto my waist and Hugh standing beside me. The large vessel finally breaks through the surface and water crashes around it as it begins to settle, floating on the rocky sea. Olive and Emma join us all I'm the room and we all move to the windows. Bronwyn and Victor each hold up a twin by the back of their suits so they can see.

"C'mon Jake I need to show you something" Emma says as she grabs onto my sleeve and leads me into a room.

"What is it?" I ask her curiously. She lets go of my sleeve and moves across the room towards a huge table, then moves around the table and stops in front of the other side of it.

"Jake before your grandfather retired he asked me to keep this safe" she says as she lifts a tin box from under the table and places it in front of us. She opens it, and pulls out its contents. I immediately recognize one of my grandpa's old maps.

"That's my grandpa's old map" I say surprised, pointing at it. I quickly grab the map and open it, I scan it for a few seconds and finally find miss Avocet's loop.

"Your grandfather spent his life hunting bad peculiars, he only retired when you were born to protect you" she starts explaining.

"The wights, I remember them. He told me about that a few years ago" I tell her.

"These are the ones he never found" she says as she hands me a small pile of pictures. I look all of the pictures and my eyes widen when I see one of the man that's caused us so much pain.

"I saw him the night my grandpa died" I say, pointing at the picture of Barron.

"He's the reason that there are hollows, because of his experiment right?" I say questioningly, remembering what my grandfather had taught me about them.

"Yes. And I have a feeling that this time, he's captured a lot more ymbrynes" she says shakily.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright" I say gently while putting down the pictures. A tear slides down her cheek and she looks away from me, embarrassed.

"C'mon over here sweetheart" I say softly, holding my arms out wide. She rushes around the table and straight into my arms. I hold her close and feel her start to shake.

"Nothings gonna harm you, not while I'm around" I sing softly.

"Nothing's gonna harm you no sir, not while I'm around. Demons are prowling everywhere nowadays. I'll send them howling, I don't care, I've got ways" I continue to sing in her ear softly. I feel her try to get closer to me, so I tighten my arms around her.

"No one's gonna hurt you, no one's gonna dare. Others can desert you,

not to worry, whistle I'll be there" I sing before gently kissing her forehead.

"Demons'll charm you with a smile for a while. But in time nothing can harm you, not while I'm around" I gently nuzzle my face against hers as I sing this line. I'm staying with her after this is all over, damn everything else. I don't need adventure, I just need her.

"Being close and being clever ain't like being true. I don't need to, I would neverhide a thing from you like some" I continue softly, rubbing her back.

"No one's gonna hurt you, no one's gonna dare. Others can desert you,

not a worry, whistle I'll be there. Demons'll charm you with a smile for awhile, but in time nothing can harm you, not while I'm around" I finish. Emma looks up at me and I see tears in her eyes. I cup her face in my hands gently and wipe away the tears.

"As long as I'm around I will never _ever_ let anything bad happen to you or _our_ family" I promise her. She opens her mouth to say something, but gets cut off when the door opens suddenly. We quickly break away from each other before the others can see our position.

"So have you found miss Avocet's loop on the map yet?" Enoch asks bored, his arms crossed. I grab the map and gently fold it so I can show him the location.

"It's here, but it's new. She made it earlier this year, it's my year. If we don't get out before it closes we're stuck in January 2016" I say as I walk over to them, holding the map in front of me.

"Great. Time catches up with us and we all die except you. Plan?" he says sarcastically.

"Enoch" Victor hisses, hitting Enoch lightly on the side with his elbow, causing Enoch to flinch.

"It's fine Vic. The loop closes at 4:30 which means we need to get in, rescue the ymbrynes and then get out" I begin to explain.

"Yeah if we're not already dead. Miss Avocet said the machine is in the cellar of the Blackpool tower building. That means we will be indoors...with hollows" Enoch cuts me off.

"Enoch that is enough! Jake just saved your life, he saved all of us. The least we can do is listen to what he has to say, we owe him that much and more" Victor snaps, shooting his friend a glare.

"Please continue Jake" Victor says encouragingly, giving me a small smile. I return his smile with one of my own and nod at him slightly.

"No, we won't be indoors with the hollows. I've got a plan, but I'm gonna need your help" I say determinedly, looking at everyone. They all look at me questioningly, and Victor steps up.

"We're with you, just tell us what you need us to do and we'll get it done" he says determinedly. Everyone besides Enoch gives me a nod or a smile in agreement. After seeing that everyone agrees with me, Enoch reluctantly gives me a small nod. It's time to end this, once and for all.


	10. The Final Battle

Jake's POV

"Okay Millard, Emma follow me" I say as we begin walking down the ramp and onto the pier. They follow me and we begin walking to the ghost train.

"Miss Avocet's loop entrance is certainly not what I expected it to be" I say honestly, taking in the view of the old fashioned carnival ride.

"Well...loop entrances can be anywhere, the one in London is in a subway tunnel" Emma explains to me.

"Wow" I say amazed. When all of this is over I'll have to remember to ask her about other loop entrances and their locations. We begin walking into the ghost train and I can't help feeling a little nervous.

 _'Now is not the time to get cold feet, they need you...Emma needs you'_ I think to myself.

"Are you sure this is it?" I ask Emma as we stop in front of two doors decorated with skeleton heads. She pushes the door open slightly and peeks her head out a little.

"I think so" she says before turning around to face me and Millard.

"Okay. Millard there's something I need you to do first" I start to say while turning to the invisible boy.

"Alright. I know" he sighs as he begins undoing his tie and taking off his hat. After he's finished undressing the three of us exit the ghost train, now in 2016.

"Look there's the tower! It's not far" I say, spotting the building on the other side of the pier.

"Easy for you to say, I'm freezing" Millard grumbles.

"Sorry Millard" I apologize. I really do feel bad, but this is necessary. Millard is one of our advantages. We continue to walk through the carnival set up on the pier and I can't help noticing the way Emma's eyes are lit up as she looks around in wonder. I smile to myself and look around a bit too, taking in the fun scenery.

 _'I definitely have to teach her more about my time'_ I think to myself.

"Ready?" I ask them as we're close to the tracks that separate us from the tower. Emma nods and we begin crossing the tracks, eager to get your ymbrynes back.

"All of the doors to the cellar are locked" I whisper to them. The three of us are currently crouched down, hiding behind some furniture.

"The only way to the ymbrynes is through there, it's backstage" I continue, looking straight ahead where Barron, a few of his friends, and four hollows are.

"How many hollows can you see?" Millard asks quietly.

"Four, that's good news" I answer. I watch as one of the hollows walks around a little.

"I think you and I have a very different definition of good news" Emma whispers nervously. I put my hand on her knee and give it a reassuring squeeze. She looks at me and I can see the fear in her eyes, even though she's trying so hard to be brave.

"It means Barron's other friends haven't arrived yet, so they haven't started the experiment. We're not too late" I explain quietly as I slowly remove my hand.

"Okay Emma, you ready? You know what to say" I say softly. She lets out a shaky breath and reaches down for hr shoes, but I stop her by grabbing her hand.

"You can do this, I believe in you" I say reassuringly as I gently rub the back of her hand. She blushes slightly and gives me a small smile, and I give her a smile of my own as I let go of her hand. She begins to undo her shoes and leaves the last ones buckled.

"Here Jake" Millard says as he hands me a long rope. I quickly wrap one end around Emma's waist twice and tie it. As Emma undoes the last few buckles I catch a little bit of what Barron is saying.

"Our brethren should be joining us momentarily" Barron says. Emma begins floating upwards and I hold onto the rope tightly, making sure she doesn't go too high.

"This is a day to-" he begins to say.

"Hey you down there!" Emma cuts him off confidently. Barron and the other wights turn to look up at her.

"We killed your hollow friend Mr. Barron, and now we've come for miss Peregrine. Bring her and all of the other ymbrynes to the end of the pier in five minutes or face the consequences" Emma finishes confidently and I begin to pull her down.

"These children must be as insane as their head mistress" Barron chuckles as he turns back to his friends.

"Still the hollows will be glad of a feed" he continues amusedly as he claps his hands once.

"Millard you know what to do?" I whisper to him. Instead of giving me a verbal response I hear him begin to quietly walk away. Emma and I stay in our hiding spot, hoping to gather more information.

"Where are you? I know you're in here somewhere" Barron calls out. In response Millard knocks over one of the decorative trash cans behind where the wights are sitting, causing the wights to look behind them in shock.

"Ah! good, listen to me. I want you to follow Mr. Archer and Mr. Clark They're going to take you down to the pier...for a little afternoon tea" Barron says.

"Mr. Archer and Mr. Clark gather the hollows and bring them down to the pier" Barron says to two of his friends.

"Those children killed Malthus?" one of the wights asks, and I can hear a little bit of nervousness in his voice.

"Barron's had it in for Malthus ever since he killed Abe Portman" one of the other wights answers his friend. I bite back a growl and make a fist with my right hand. Emma grabs it and starts rubbing it, trying to calm me.

 _'Now isn't the time to get angry, Emma and the others need you to have a clear head'_ I think to myself. I manage to calm down a bit and give Emma a small smile, she gives me one of her own before letting go of my hand.

"I tracked Abe Portman for months, all I needed was a few minutes to get the location of Miss Peregrine's loop from him. But no! Malthus couldn't wait" Barron says as he walks towards the wight that had just spoken.

"And instead I had to masquerade as a psychiatrist, for three weeks!" Barron exclaims at the end, holding up three fingers in front of him.

"In Florida! Have you ever been to Florida?" he asks the wight as he lowers his fingers, the wight nods 'no'. Barron looks around and seems to notice that his two friends haven't left yet.

"Did I not tell you to gather the hollows?" he says as he turns to them.

"What if it's a trap?" the female wight interjects.

"Of course it is Ms. Edwards, but what of it? A couple of children against four hollows, lets get this over with" he says to her.

"That's our cue" I say to Emma as I begin to pull her away. She didn't have time to put on her shoes so I'm carrying them in my free hand as we exit the building. I look behind me as I begin to cross the street, holding onto the rope and pulling it along as if Emma was a balloon. The two wights Barron had sent exit the building and I see the four hallows trailing behind them closely, breaking the glass on the door as they exit. Suddenly I feel resistance on the rope and see Emma caught on telephone wires.

"Jake I'm stuck" she says nervously as she frantically tries to free herself. A black car slams into one of the hollows as our enemies begin to get closer to us. Suddenly we hear a train begin to move towards us as I begin to try to pull her free.

"Hurry up" she says afraid. With a sudden rush of determination, I yank her down and pull her down a lot closer to me and begin to quickly move towards the end of the pier. The train begins to cross, preventing the wights and the hollows from following us.

"Don't worry I've got you" I say reassuringly as I lead her through the crowd, ignoring the gasps and murmurs coming from everyone that's watching us. Out of the corner of my eye I see her looking around at the carnival in wonder again, and grin at the amazement I see in her eyes.

 _'Hopefully one day I'll be able to show her more things like this, when we're not in danger'_ I think to myself.

"They're coming!" I call out to the children as I stop front of the ghost train. I quickly pull Emma down to the ground and hand over her shoes before beginning to untie her.

"Go to Olive" I tell her before I kiss her cheek quickly. She nods and we go into the ghost train. She separates from me as I go to the side that goes into 1940.

"Enoch now!" I call out from the doorway. He looks up at me and nods quickly. I quickly rush back into the side for 2016, grabbing the crossbow

"Snow now" I says quickly as I rush out of the ghost train. The younger ones and Victor immediately begin to throw snowballs from their spot on the roof of the ghost train, hitting the wight and the hollows. Now that they know where to aim they continue to pelt them with snow. Then they begin to throw beads and candy, which sticks to the targets.

"Great job guys" I call out to them proudly.

"Emma go" I say, gesturing to the hollows with my head. Olive removes the lid and Emma begins letting out a big puff of air, forcing the cotton candy to blow onto the hollows, which also sticks to them.

"Don't just stand there, get them!" the wight orders. The hollows begin to move forward when suddenly skeletons begin to run out of the ghost train. I turn and see Enoch cone out after them and see him watching in amazement as the skeletons he's controlling begin to fight the hollows. I watch as the whole scene plays out, the skeletons killing the hollows and the wight. Enoch and I move forward a bit and give each other a look as we watch the series of events. Bronwyn rushes onto the carousel and pushes one of the horses so it shoots into the hollow's chest and pushes it into the water.

"Great job sis" Victor says proudly. She smiles at him and rushes into his arms. We all quickly move away from the ghost train and stop once we're on the other side of the carousel.

"Great job guys, time for step two" I begin to say.

"Save miss Peregrine" Bronwyn says excitedly.

"Um that's sort of step three, first we've got to deal with Barron" I explain as I begin to move forward.

"C'mon" I hear Enoch say to the others, and hear their footsteps behind me. After quickly telling them the next part of the plan, we all quickly get into our places. As Barron finishes ranting to the female wight, Ms. Edwards if I remember correctly, Emma lets out a big breath and pushes Barron back into a board that is ironically shaped like a target. I shoot and the arrow lands inches away from the side of Barron's head.

 _'Damn it'_ I internally growl. I glance at Emma and see her gasping to catch her breath.

 _'My poor baby'_ I think to myself sadly. Wait _baby,_ where did that come from? In my heart I know I love her, but with everything that's happened today I haven't had a chance to hear her side. And if she wants me when this is all over, she can have me, she already does. I snap out of these thoughts and refocus on the situation at hand.

"Hugh do it now!" I shout. Hugh opens his mouth and releases his bees, which begin to sting the wights. The male falls into the pool in the middle of the room and the female winds up on top of the trapeze set up.

"Get them!" Barron shouts at her. The female swings down with a bucket of knives and begins throwing them at us.

"Get down" I shout as I push Emma down as one of the knives fly towards us.

"You think you can stand in my way? You Jake, content to age and die as if you had not the gift of peculiarity at all?" Barron asks as he begins to move forward. Enoch rushes at him and Barron hits him upside the head, knocking him to the ground unconscious. Barron chuckles at this.

"I am a higher being" Barron says as he holds his arms out grandly.

"I hold the secret to eternal life" he continues, moving his hands so their against his chest.

"Sorry to interrupt" Olive says from behind Barron, putting her hand on his shoulder for a few seconds. This causes his jacket to catch on fire. Barron lets out a startled yelp and begins to take of his jacket. He swings the burning material at Olive and she ducks.

"Bronwyn, Victor" I call out softly as I begin to reload the crossbow. They both nod at me from their spot in front of the seats and begin picking up one chair each. I shoot the crossbow and once again I miss. Barron looks back as the arrow sails past him. This time I do let out a growl and begin to consider just pulling my grandfather's pistol out of my backpack, but I know that's too risky right now.

"Huh. You've missed me again Jake, I take it accuracy is not your peculiarity" Barron jokes as he looks back at me, that's when Bronwyn and Victor throw their chairs at Barron, knocking him to the ground. I give them a quick smile before refocusing on Barron. Barron snarles angrily as he gets back up. I try to aim the crossbow again but he stretches his arm and knocks it away from me. I rush at him and he punches me in the chest, knocking me to the ground. I hear Emma gasp from her hiding spot and Barron chuckles as he looks down at me.

"Abe was a much worthier adversary" he says before walking past me and moves towards the door leading to the basement. My chest is still in pain from earlier and the blow just made it worse.

"Don't let him get to the birds!" I groan out as I roll onto my stomach and push myself up slightly with my arms. Horace steps in front of him and holds up his monocle, shooting a bright light at Barron. Barron lets out a few agonizing cries of pain which quickly turn into chuckles. Horace puts down his monocle as Barron continues to chuckle as he moves towards him. Barron puts his hands on Horace's shoulder and I see Horace get a little nervous.

"Ohh hmmm you must get me in contact with your tailor" Barron says before moving past Horace and continues to move through the doorway.

"Ymbrynes, ymbrynes here I come!" Barron says as he begins moving through the hall. I groan in pain and force myself to get up and grab the crossbow before moving towards Emma, who immediately rushes to me and follows me into the hallway. We quickly move down the stairs and I shoot at Barron's back, and wouldn't you know it? I miss.

"I'll hold him off as long as I can" Emma says, putting her hand on my shoulder and gives it a soft squeeze as she moves forward.

"Jake when are you going to realize you're a terrible shot with that thing?" Barron taunts as he turns around to look at us. Emma blows and pushes Barron back against the wall.

 _'That's my girl!'_ I think to myself proudly.

"Get the others. I'll meet you at the loop entrance" I promise her as I move towards the door Barron had been standing by. I quickly enter the room and lock the door behind me. In the center of the room there are two cages, hooked up to some sort of machine. The bigger of the two cages holds about six or seven different birds captive, the smaller cage only holds one bird, miss Peregrine.

"Don't worry I'll get you all out of here" I say as I quickly rush over to the cages. After trying a few times to figure out how to unlock the door I begin to become very impatient. I hear wood being chopped from the door and hear Barron growl.

 _'Oh what the hell'_ I think to myself before shifting my arm so it looks like a hollow's arm. I hide it behind my back so he can't see it.

"Find your children, create new loops" I say quickly, swiping at the door of the large cage a few times, creating a large hole in the cage. The birds all fly out just as Barron gets the door open. They all fly through the windows on the ceiling, off in search of their children.

"So Jake I see you've inherited your grandfather's peculiarity. You're just as annoying as he was" Barron growls as he moves towards me.

"Speaking of Abe. If you should see him in the afterlife, give him my regards" Barron continues. I quickly move to the smaller cage and rip it open.

"Please we can't risk him taking you again" I say pleadingly. Miss Peregrine flies out of the cage and swipes at Barron's face before exiting the same way her fellow ymbrynes had. I shift my arm back to normal.

"You've lost miss Peregrine, you've lost everything. It's over" I say firmly, trying one last time to get him to see reason. Barron snarles and moves forward, grabs me by the shoulder and shapes his arm into an axe.

"Jake?" Emma's sweet voice emits from the hallway. Barron gives me an evil grin and shifts so he looks just like me.

"Jake?" I hear Enoch call out.

"Jake?" I hear Emma call out nervously, right outside the door. I see her push the door slightly so it opens and her and Enoch look at the two of us in shock.

"Emma! No wait look, that's not me that's barron" I say, taking a few small steps towards her.

"Don't listen to him! That's Barron" Barron says, taking a few steps forward.

"No I'm Jake, that's Barron" I argue. Enoch gets annoyed and grabs the forgotten crossbow, I guess I had set it down when I locked myself in here.

"Well I'm a better shot than Jake so neither of you move until we sort this" he says, aimng the crossbow.

"Listen to me I'm Jake, that's Barron. I grew up in Florida and I wanted to be an explorer. I thought nothing would ever change because I was ordinary" Barron says.

"That's Jake. Get Barron" Emma says, and Enoch aims the crossbow at me.

"No wait! I told him this, he was my psychiatrist for three weeks" I say alarmed, holding my hands up in front of me in a non threatening way. I gulp and that's when an idea pops into my head.

"Emma do you remember the last thing I said to you before I lost consciousness after saving Victor?" I ask her, causing her eyes to widen. There's no way Barron knows this.

"I said 'dying doesn't seem so bad, as long as your face is the last thing I see' and I still mean that Emma" I say sweetly, looking right into her eyes.

"Jake" Emma chokes out, tears pooling in her eyes.

"It's me" I say soothingly, flashing her a small smile. Suddenly Barron lets out an angry snarl and shifts back before he begins to charge at Emma. I stop him by turning into the one thing that peculiars and wights are afraid of, I turn into a hollow


	11. The Next Adventure

Jake's POV

I gently push Emma and Enoch behind me and begin to change. I feel my bones begin to shift and see Barron back up with fear in his eyes. Soon I'm standing so tall that I have to slouch so my head won't hit the ceiling. I let out a loud roar and hit Barron with one of my long tentacle like tongues. The blow causes him to fall to the side and I wrap a two of my tongues around his waist and one around his neck, lifting him into the air. He tries to get me to let him go, to get me to stop choking him, but I'm too strong.

 _'Let's see how you like getting your eyes removed. This is for my grandfather and for all the children you and your 'friends' have killed'_ I think to myself determinedly. I thrust two of my tongues into his eye sockets and he screams, grabbing at my tentacles to try and get me to stop. I hear Emma gasp but I remain focused on what I'm doing. I retract my tongues, pulling the eyes out and Barron's now dead body goes limp in my grasp. I take a few steps forward and throw Barron's body across the room. I slowly turn around and the only thing I can focus on is the fear I see in Emma's eyes. That's when I realize I'm still holding onto Barron's eyes and throw those off to the side. I crouch down in a non threatening way and shift back into human form. I slowly stand back up to avoid scaring Emma and Enoch.

"I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare you. I just didn't know what else to do" I apologize. Emma rushes to me and I barely have enough time to spread my arms before she's pressed against me. I wrap my arms around her waist and all I feel is relief that she isn't afraid of me.

"I'm sorry" I mumble against her hair.

"It's ok" she murmurs against my neck. Enoch clears his throat and we both chuckle before separating. We all walk out of the building, eager to put all of this behind us. We're right in front of the others when Emma freezes in. **(A/N: I highly recommend listening to Glee's cover of Somewhere Only We Know while reading this part).**

"Emma? What's wrong?" I ask her worriedly, taking her hand in mine.

"Jake we killed Barron in January, that means that he won't go to Florida and Abe won't die" she says quietly. I hear the others gasp at the realization and my eyes widen.

"You can go home" she says quietly.

"Emma" I say quietly.

"I know you'll choose Abe, if I minded I wouldn't have told you" she says, looking down at our hands. I swallow the lump in my throat and I feel very conflicted. A big part of me wants to go with them and be with Emma, but there's still that small part of me that wants to see my grandfather.

"Time to go" Emma says to the others as she lets go of my hand and walks over to them. We all walk to the front of the ghost train and one by one they start giving me hugs. Enoch puts his hand on my shoulder and gives me a small nod, I nod at him and he goes up the steps of the ghost train. Then Olive gives me a hug and takes Enoch's hand, then they walk into the ghost train together.

 _'Well it's about time'_ I think to myself amusedly. I'm happy for them, at least they get their happily ever after.

"Don't you dare forget about us" Victor says as he hugs me tightly, giving me a pat on the back.

"I don't think that would ever even be possible" I say amusedly. He grins at me for a few seconds before he turns serious.

"Thanks again for saving me, I'll never be able to repay you for everything you've done for us" he says, tears beginning to prick his eyes.

"That's what you do in a family, you look out for each other" I say reassuringly. He gives me a small smile and picks up Bronwyn, who waves at me and gives me a sad smile as they disappear into the ghost train. Emma's the only one out here now and gives me a hug. I bite my lip to keep from letting out a sob and take a deep breath, trying to memorize her scent before I let her go, forever.

"I'll miss you" she says as she pulls away from me, and I don't miss the way her voice broke at the end.

"I'll miss you too" I say sadly. I don't want her to forget about me, I know I'll never forget about her.

"Oh um...take this" I say as I take off my backpack. Her eyes widen as I hand it to her.

"Jake no...I can't possibly accept this" she says as she tries to give it back, but I stop her.

"I want you to have it...that way you'll always have something to remember me by, just like I'll always have this" I say as I pull my phone out of my jacket's pocket, which still has the pictures that I took on the day I met them all officially. She sobs and wraps her free arm around my neck. I wrap an arm around her waist and it takes everything in me not to tear up. She pulls away and I kiss her forehead.

"Goodbye" she whispers, her voice cracking. She hurries up the steps and disappears into the ghost train.

 _'You need to go back, they need you...protect our family...your grandmother is waiting for me..I love you too'_ my grandfather's words from our conversation from earlier echo in my head.

' _I've said my goodbye to him, it's time to move on'_ I realize. I don't need anything from my old life, not anymore. It's time to write my own destiny instead of living the one my parents made for me. Without a second thought I run into the ghost train, and don't stop until I'm running out and see Emma walking towards the the ramp. She turns around and has a confused look in her eyes for only a second until she realizes I'm running to her. She runs towards me and we meet halfway. I wrap my arms around her back as she wraps hers around my neck, and lift her up off the ground. We stay like that for a few seconds before I carefully put her down, but don't let go of her.

"Jake..you could have gone home" she says quietly as she looks up at me, and bites her lip nervously. I look at my phone and see that it is 4:31 pm now. I put it back in my pocket and look into her beautiful eyes that now have unshed tears in them.

"You are home for me now" I say softly before leaning in and kiss her forehead. She gasps and tangles her fingers in my hair. She tugs on it slightly and suddenly her lips crash against mine. I kiss her back immediately and give her a couple extra small pecks before pulling away and resting my chin on the top of her head.

"I love you" she murmurs. My eyes widen and I look down at her, shocked. I thought I would be the one to say it first, but to hear her say it make my heart flutter.

"I-I'm sorry..it's just that I thought th-" I cut her off by crushing my lips against her, kissing her passionately. She kisses me back and I can't help lifting her off of the ground again for a few seconds.

"I love you too" I say breathlessly. She smiles up at me and giggles when I peck her on the cheek twice. I let go of her and pick up my backpack, which Emma had dropped when she'd wrapped her arms around me. I sling it onto my right shoulder and wrap my left arm around her shoulders.

"C'mon lets go catch up with the others" I say gently. She nods and leans her head against my shoulder as we walk up the ramp and onto the ship. We walk inside the ship and the others gasp or shout in excitement when they see me.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily" I tease them, enjoying the sight of my new family all together, finally safe. Emma leans forward and kisses my cheek, causing me to blush. Enoch slowly approaches me, still holding Olive's hand and looks a little nervous and embarrassed.

"Look Jake... about earlier, I just want to say I'm sorry. I've been very unfair to you since you got here, and I am very great full that you saved my life...and brought back my best friend" he says apologetically before he looks down nervously, and I can't help grinning.

"That's alright Enoch, I understand why you did it, what do you say we start over?" I ask him politely. Olive looks between the two of us smiling and squeezes Enoch's hand reassuringly. Enoch looks up at me again and gives me a small grin.

"I'd like that, very much" he says, holding out his hand. I shake it and for the first time since I'd been trusted into their lives I feel welcomed, by everybody.

"So...where should we go now?" I ask everyone. We all look around at each other and Fiona is the first one to speak up.

"Can we go to the places Abe explored after he left the war?" she asks me. Everyone lets out sounds of agreement and look at me hopefully.

"Well there is this one loop in Puerto Rico I've wanted to go to for the longest time. it's May 6th,1972" I say excitedly.

"Ohhh! what's there Jake?" Claire asks excitedly.

"There's a lake where the water glows in the dark" I repeat the words my grandfather had said many years ago, when he was showing me the different loops on his map, and what was special about them.

"Well what are we waiting for? let's go find it on the map!" Emma says excitedly, looking up at me, her eyes sparkling brighter than the stars. I smile at her and take of my backpack and take out the map. I give it to her and she immediately begins opening it and chatting about how exciting this adventure is going to be. I look around and see everyone beginning to wander off to do their own thing, chatting excitedly about finally being able to look forward to the future.

 _'I could get used to this'_ I think to myself happily.

"C'mon Jake I wanna hear about all of these different loops" Emma calls to me excitedly. I chuckle and make my way over to her, happy with how my new life is starting out.

After several hours of telling everyone the stories my grandfather had told me growing up, everyone finally decided to just relax for the rest of the night. We'll begin setting our course for the loop tomorrow.

"I miss our old stuff" Bronwyn says sadly.

"I know, but we'll be getting new stuff very soon" Victor promises, hugging his little sister .

"Oh that reminds me!" I exclaim as I grab my backpack, causing everyone to look at me surprisedly.

"Some things can't be replaced" I begin to say.

"Jake what do you-" Horace begins to ask.

"But luckily some things don't have to be" I finish as I begin pulling all of their suitcases out of my backpack, causing everyone to gasp in shock.

"I grabbed them all before I had joined you guys after Barron had left the house. With everything that's happened today I had forgotten to mention it" I explain to them. After I finish handing out their stuff I feel my fingers brush against a familiar frame.

"I um...I also grabbed this from the old house, after I'd flown away from you guys on the beach" I say nervously, pulling out the black and white group photo of them that I'd found covered in dust, and show it to them.

"I know it isn't much but" I begin to say before Emma cuts me off.

"It's perfect" she says sweetly. She gives me a small smile and I peck her on the cheek, causing her to blush. The younger ones chuckle and the older one smile at us.

"Alright everyone, time for bed" I say firmly after I realize how late it is. We lay on the old blankets Olive had found and dried off earlier. Emma lays next to me on our shared blanket and I wrap an arm around her waist.

"Goodnight Jake" she says sleepily.

"Goodnight Emma" I say quietly before kissing her forehead. She snuggles closer to me and falls asleep within seconds. After scanning the room to make sure everyone is asleep I finally close my eyes, and allow myself to dream about our next adventure.


	12. One Of The Best Days Of My Life

Jake's POV

I wake up to a blood curdling scream coming from behind me. I quickly roll over and faintly make out Emma thrashing in her spot. I wrap my arms around her and try to sooth her.

"Emma? Emma wake up sweetheart" I whisper in her ear as I cup her cheek in my hand. Her eyes open and I see her try to scan the room for any possible danger. Her eyes meet mine and she immediately snuggles into my chest.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I ask her gently.

"Y-you turned into a hollow, you killed Barron... but instead of throwing his eyes across the room...you ate them. And then you t-turned on me and Enoch, you lunged at me and that's when I woke up" she says shakily. I beat myself up internally, it's my fault she's so afraid.

"I'm so sorry Emma, I never should have done that while you were in the room, I should have made you and Enoch leave before I did that" I say apologetically. I pull her closer to me and her breathing starts to regulate.

"You were protecting us Jake, you did what you thought was right. And I wouldn't have left you in there alone even if you had told us to go, imagining you alone with him is much scarier than watching you begin to mutate and actually see you in hollow form" she says quietly.

"I promise I'll never scare you like that again" I say gently before kissing the top of her head.

"I love you Jake" she whispers into my neck.

"I love you too Emma" I whisper before kissing her on the lips.

"Let's get some sleep, our new lives begin tomorrow" she whispers quietly as she settles against my chest.

"Goodnight Emma" I yawn out. She snuggled closer to me and falls asleep. I pick up a spare blanket and place it over us. Emma sighs in her sleep and snuggles closer to my chest. I let out a small laugh as I relax in my spot. I close my eyes and fall asleep after a few seconds.

The next time I wake up it's morning. The sunlight is lighting up the room from the windows. I look around and see that everyone is still asleep, including miss Peregrine, who is in bird form and is perched on one of the many levers. I carefully untangle myself from Emma, making sure I don't wake her up, and quietly sneak out of the room. Once I'm out of the room I begin exploring the ship, looking in awe at all of the different rooms. I walk outside and make my way to the front deck. I lean forward and cross my arms over the pointed railings in front of me. I stare out at the open ocean and take a deep breath, taking in the scent of the salty ocean air. It's so peaceful out here, the waves slapping the ship lightly and the view create a relaxing scenery. I hear the horn blast from the top of the ship and that's when I realize that everyone has woken up. I'm not going to rejoin them just yet, I wanna stay out here just a little longer. I hear quiet footsteps approaching me and turn my head to the side. Miss Peregrine is walking towards me and I can see a little worry in her eyes.

"Good morning Jake" she says politely as she stands next to me.

"Good morning miss Peregrine" I say politely before returning my gaze to the ocean in front of us.

"Listen Jake... I don't know how to thank you for everything you've done for us, you brought Victor back, you saved my sisters and myself, and you killed Barron...your grandfather would be very proud of the man you are becoming" she says gratefully. I feel my cheeks heat up and I give her a small smile, which she returns.

"You don't need to thank me, I was just glad to help" I say quietly.

"I know that this isn't what you had originally had in mind, living with us I mean. The children just informed me that you've decided to stay with us, what changed your mind?" she asks me curiously.

"Well, Emma had told me that since we killed Barron in January, my grandfather wouldn't die. I almost didn't come with you" I admit quietly.

"What made you decide to?" she asks curiously.

"I remembered the conversation I'd had with my grandfather earlier, when everyone thought I was dead after bringing Victor back" I begin to explain, and I see her nod her head, probably thinking about that moment.

"He'd told me that I had to go back to you guys because it wasn't my time yet, that I had to go back and protect our family... when I was standing outside of the ghost train and I had remembered all of this, I had realized I'd already said goodbye to him and that it was time to move on" I explain quietly. Out of the corner of my eye I see her turn to me in shock, surprised by what I'd just told her.

"So I ran, I ran into the ghost train without a second thought. And I didn't stop until I had made it onto the dock in 1940. Emma had been very surprised" I laugh , remembering reuniting with her.

"Ah yes, you and Emma are a 'couple' now, the children also explained that" miss Peregrine says, and I gulp slightly, looking at my ymbryne nervously.

"Just promise me this Jake, that you will take care of her" she says quietly.

"I promise" I say honestly, and she grins at me.

"Good, now then if you'll excuse me I have to check on the others" she says cheerfully as she begins walking away. I turn back to the ocean and faintly hear Enoch and Olive set our course to Puerto Rico. I grin and turn around to face the rest of the ship. I see everyone watching me curiously through the glass windows of the control room and smile at them. I shift into a Peregrine falcon and soar into the sky. I fly ahead of the ship, making sure I stay in their range of sight, and begin leading them towards our new home.

 **Three Years Later**

"The baby's coming!" I exclaim excitedly as I race down the stairs. Our house looks exactly like the one in Cairnholm, only it's a lot bigger. Everyone gasps in shock and begins letting out excited chatter.

"Let's not dottle then Jake, let's go great the newest member of the family" miss Peregrine says happily as we begin moving up the stairs, towards the attic. The others stay downstairs, and I hear them quietly talking amongst each other, betting on whether it's a boy or girl. We hurry into the attic and I see Emma panting from her spot on the middle of our bed. I hurry over to her and take her hand as Emma begins preparing her for the delivery.

"Alright now Emma push" miss Peregrine says. Emma groans as she begins to push and I feel her begin to squeeze my hand.

"I-I can't do it" Emma says nervously, looking at me with fear in her eyes.

"Yes you can sweetheart, I believe in you" I say lovingly as I lift our joined hands and kiss the back of hers. She looks at me for another few seconds before giving one last big push, and the sound of a baby crying emits. She smiles at me exhaustedly and I kiss her forehead.

"I knew you could do it" I say proudly, wiping some sweat off of her forehead as we wait for miss Peregrine to finish cleaning off our baby.

"Congratulations it's a girl!" miss Peregrine says as she reenters the room, holding our baby girl who is now wrapped in a small yellow blanket. She gives the baby to Emma and I look down at my little girl.

"She looks just like her daddy" Emma says proudly, taking in the tufts of dark hair on our daughter's head, and her blue eyes.

"You're going to have to chase the boys away with a stick when she's older" Emma says amusedly, grinning at me tiredly.

"Can't wait" I say amusedly as I rub my pointer finger against your little one's cheek.

"Have you two decided a name for her?" miss Peregrine asks us curiously.

"Actually we'd decided that Jake would name her if it was a girl, on the day she was born" Emma says, looking at me curiously. I hadn't told her the name I'd picked out.

"Sophie, Sophie Jemma Portman" I say proudly, looking down at my little girl lovingly.

"I love it" Emma says happily, looking at me with love and adoration in her eyes.

"That's a beautiful name" miss Peregrine agrees as she snaps a photo of the three of us. Emma lets out a small yawn and I chuckle.

"Alright love, get some rest. I'll take care of Sophie until you wake up" I say lovingly as I carefully take Sophie out of her arms. She grins at me gratefully before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

"I'll get her cleaned up, go introduce the newest member of our family to the others" miss Peregrine says. I give her a small smile as I stand up and carry my little girl out of the room. Everyone loops up as they hear me walk slowly down the stairs, and gasp when they see the bundle in my arms.

"Everyone, I'd like all of you to meet Sophie Jemma Portman" I say happily as I walk over to them.

"She's beautiful Jake" Olive says kindly, grinning at me happily.

"You're gonna have trouble keeping the boys away when she's older" Enoch says, supporting his fiancé's statement.

"And I wouldn't have it another way" I say proudly as I look down at my baby girl.

"It's hard to believe that you and Emma got married a year ago, and now you have a baby" Horace says amusedly, probably remembering my wedding day.

"And to think, this all started because of a peculiar meeting, September 3rd 1940" I murmer, looking down at Sophie, who is now playing with Victor's finger.

"I think she is the best early Valentine's day gift" Bronwyn says, looking down at the little one playing with her older brother's finger.

"Yep, February 10th 1943 is officially one of the best days of my life" I agree.

"Hi Sophie, I'm your uncle Enoch" Enoch coos to the baby girl in my arms.

"Would you like to hold her?" I ask him, carefully making her let go of Victor's finger.

"Can I?" he asks me hopefully, I nod at him and carefully place Sophie into his arms. Enoch looks like he's about to cry as he begins to coo to the little girl.

"You're going to be a great father one day" I compliment as I watch him play with my little girl.

"Just think Enoch, in a matter of months you'll have your own little one to play with" Olive says amusedly as she takes Sophie out of his arms. We all look at her in shock and Enoch faints.

"Well that's one way to tell someone you're pregnant" Victor chuckles as he watches Sophie squirm in Olive's arms.

"Well how about that? Looks like you'll have a playmate very soon Sophie" I grin at my little girl, who let's out a little coo. She reaches her tiny hand out to me and Olive immediately gives her to me.

"Looks like she's a daddy's girl" Hugh says amusedly.

"Daddy loves you very much" I whisper to her. She falls asleep holding my finger and I let out a small laugh.

"Jake?" I hear Emma call out faintly.

"Alright time to go back to mommy" I say softly as I rake my little girl upstairs. Emma grins at me as I enter the room, I quickly walk over to her and carefully put Sophie in her arms. She begins feeding our little one and I carefully sit next to her on our bed.

"Miss Peregrine left to give us some privacy" my wife explains when she see's me look around for the ymbryne. I smile at her lovingly and wrap my arms around her shoulders, she lays her head on my shoulder and I kiss her forehead.

"I love you" I whisper, looking at my two beautiful girls.

"I love you too" she says before leaning in and kissing me. Yep, this is one of the best days of my life. The other is September 3rd 1940, where a peculiar meeting started it all.


	13. Sneak Peek At The Sequel

**A/N: Hey guys! So just a heads up this story probably won't actually start being published until after either A Different Story or I'm Staying are completed. I've been having some writers block the past few days and I just thought I'd give you guys a small taste of the story! Enjoy and feel free to tell me what you think :)**

Sophie's POV

"Hurry up Harry!" I squeal as I run towards the enchanted lake.

"Slow down Portman!" I hear him groan as he tries to catch up to me.

"C'mon we're almost there!" I say encouragingly as I stop on top of a huge hill a few hundred feet away from the lake.

"How the heck are you still so enrrgetic? We're getting too old for racing like this" he says in between gasps as he stops beside me.

"We're sixteen Harry" I giggle as he drops to his hands and knees and continues panting from our long race.

"Exactly!" he exclaims dramatically.

"Oh Harry" I chuckle amusedly as I run my fingers through his dark brown hair affectionatly. Harry and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember. We play together, eat together, heck we even live together...well one room away from each other. We have each other's backs no matter what. And I'm not gonna lie, I've had a crush on him for years. He has dark hair and ocean green eyes, a few adorable dimples on his cheeks, and a smile that makes my heart skip a beat.

"Soph you're messing up my hair!" he laughs as he runs his fingers through his hair. His fingers brush lightly over mine and I blush slightly, before moving my hand away from his head and running it over my own long black locks. He leans his head against my leg as he sits beside me, one of his legs bent up slightly while the other is stretched out flat infront of him. He peaks up at me and flashes me a goofy grin. I happily return the gesture before putting my hand on his shoulder and looking back out at the sight before us. The lake shimmers in the sunlight and there is an old abandoned flat marble base with old pillars rising on it. **(Think of the enchanted lake scene from the first Descendants movie)**. The sun is resting just above the tree line.

"Beautiful isn't it?" I say contently, not taking my eyes away from our little hide away.

"Yeah..beautiful" he sighs after a few minutes of comfortable silence. Out of the corner of my eye I notice that he isn't even looking at the lake, he's looking up at me with an unfamiliar emotion swimming in his eyes.

 _'Get a grip Portman!'_ I silently scold myself. I shoot him a small smile and lightly squeeze his shoulder before taking off down the hill.

"Catch me if you can O'Connor!" I laugh as I continue to run.

"Hey! No fair that's cheating!" he protests as I hear him scramble up and begin chasing after me. I giggle before changing into a Peregrine falcon and soaring into the sky, determinded to beat him to the stone ruins.

I let out a happy squawk as I land on a peice of log that's not completely submurged under water.

"No fair" Harry pants as he stops a few feet from the water's edge. I let out a small squawk before hopping off my perch and landing on his leg. He let's out a small breathless laugh before stroking a few of the feathers on my back. I hop off of his leg after a few minutes and land beside him. I shift back into human form and lay my head on his shoulder.

"Soph?" he says after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah?" I murmer, turning my head on his shoulder slightly to look at him.

"Why do you have to go?" he asks sadly, causing my eyes to widen from surprise.

"What do you mean?" I ask curiously.

"I heard you talking to Miss Peregrine and your parents last night. You want to leave the loop, why?" he says depressed as he turns to look at me.

"Living in a loop is fun and all, but I want to see more. Possibly explore other loops and meet more peculiars" I say softly. Our loop is August 12th 1946. My dad once told me that he and the rest of our family decided they didn't want to age anymore, so Miss Peregrine created our loop. But she was able to create a medicine with a few other Ymbrynes that allowed Harry and I to continue to age, it'll wear off when we turn seventeen.

"I'll miss you" he mumbles as he looks down at the ground.

 _'Doesn't he know he can come with me?'_ I think to myself. Obviously he hadn't heard the whole conversation, the part where I asked my mum and dad to talk to uncle Enoch and aunt Olive about him coming with me. Uncle Enoch already told me this morning that as long as I look after him and we stay safe, he is fine with Harry coming with me.

"Harry didn't your dad tell you the news?" I ask softly, removing my head from his shoulder to look at him.

"What news?" he asks me confusedly, and I see sadness still pooling in his eyes.

"Harry...you can come with me" I say with a small smile. I watch as the realization sinks in and he smiles brightly at me.

"Really?" he asks hopefully.

"Really" I say reassuringly as I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him. He wraps his arms around me and I let out a small squeak as he pulls me onto his lap.

"You didn't really think I'd want to go on an adventure without you, did you?" I giggle as I look down at him.

"shut up, I thought my best friend was leaving me" he mumbles embarrassed as he nuzzles his head against my neck.

"Oh Harry, don't you know how much I need you in my life" I sigh as I gently run my fingers through his hair. Crush or no crush he'll always be my best friend, the most important person in my life. He mumbles something into my neck, and it takes everything in me to hold back a gasp as I feel his lips brush against my skin. I put my hands on either side of his face and make him look at me.

"No matter what, you will always be my best friend. And I will always love you" I say calmly. We tell each other 'I love you' all the time, so thankfully he won't suspect a thing.

"I'll always love you too" he promises, leaning up so our foreheads are touching. I move my head away slightly and kiss his forehead gently. I rest my forehead back against his and I see that his eyes are closed and he has a small smile on his lips.

 _'Maybe one day this will be a common occurance'_ I think to myself hopefully. I've been in love with him since we were thirteen. One day I'm going to get the courage to tell him how I feel about him, but being his friend is enough for now.

"Alright, enough of this depressing stuff! Let's go for a swim" I say cheerily with a British accent, causing Harry to let out a small laugh. Along with my dad's looks, I also inherited his American accent. He let's out a small whine as I get off his lap before standing up too. We strip down to our bathing suits and Harry shoots me a mischievous smirk before picking me bridal style.

"Harry don't do it!" I squeal as I wrap my arms around his neck and cling to him.

"Now where's the fun in that?" he asks with a smirk before running into the water and diving with me still in his arms. I splutter as soon as my head reaches the surface.

"Harry I'm going to kill you!" I caugh as I start swimming towards the ruins, and he let's out a small laugh before splashing me.

"Oh it's on!" I say sassily before splashing him back. Before I know it we're in a full out splash war. After about twenty minutes we get out of the water laughing with his arm around my shoulders and mine around his waist. We sit down on the ruins and I shiver as my shorts and tanktop cling to me.

"Come here" Harry says softly as he gently pulls me to him so I'm sitting between his legs with my back against his bare chest. He heats up his hands and begins running them up and down my arms.

"T-thanks H-Harry" I stutter as he begins rubbing my stomach.

"You're welcome" he says, resting his chin on my right shoulder.

"Come on let's go home" he says softly a little while later, now that we're both mostly dry. He pulls on his pants and puts on his socks and black sneakers before offering me his dark grey T-shirt.

"This should be much more comfortable than your shirt" he explains, gesturing to the balled up blue shirt in my left hand.

 _'He's probably right, it'd probably cling to me as soon as I put it on'_ I reason with myself as Harry takes my shirt from my hand and replaces it with his. I put on the shirt and it goes almost halfway to my knees. He smiles down at me as I put on my socks and sneakers, not even bothering with putting on my pants since they'd just get soaked. He grabs my pants and drapes them over his right shoulder before taking my right hand in his left one. We walk hand in hand back up over the hill and look down at the big house off in the distance, children playing in the front yard.

"Last one inside has to give the winner their dessert!" I exclaim as I let go of his hand and take off down the hill.

"Not again!" I hear him huff as he begins chasing after me, and I let out another laugh as we continue our game.


End file.
